SAN  DIEGC 


V. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii  III  iiii  iiiiiiiiii 

3  1822  00786  6650 


!* 


ELIZABETH. 


Famous  §lueens  of  History 

JACOB  ABBOTT 


The  Werner  Company 

BOOK    MANUFACTURERS 
AKRON,  OHIO 


PREFACE 


A  FAR  greater  sovereign  than  woman  was  Eliza- 
beth of  England.  Inheriting  grave  defects  of  charac- 
ter, she  developed  commanding  qualities  of  mind. 
Intriguing,  lying,  courting  flattery,  she  carried  on  a 
series  of  amours  while  governing  her  land  with  rare 
sagacity,  never  allowing  her  chamber-maid's  heart  to 
influence  her  statesman's  head.  Ascending  the  throne 
at  a  time  when  the  world  was  witnessing  the  begin- 
nings of  a  terrible  convulsion  she  dexterously  piloted 
her  own  realm  past  threatening  disaster  into  a  period 
of  unexampled  prosperity  and  splendor.  Ignoring  her 
faults,  grievous  as  they  were,  England  calls  her  its 
"Virgin  Queen"  and  renders  her  homage  as  one  of 
its  greatest  rulers. 


(ix) 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


Chapter  Pagb 

I.  ELIZABETH'S    MOTHER 1 5 

11.  THE   CHILDHOOD   OF   A   PRINCESS 3 1 

III.  LADY  JANE   GREY        •      •      • 46 

IV.  THE  SPANISH   MATCH 66 

V.  ELIZABETH   IN   THE   TOWER 8 1 

VI.  ACCESSION   TO   THE   THRONE 97 

VII.  THE   WAR    IN    SCOTLAND II 4 

VIII.  ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS I30 

IX.  PERSONAL   CHARACTER 149 

X.  THE   INVINCIBLE   ARMADA 165 

XI.  THE   EARL   OF   ESSEX .      .    185 

XII.  THE  CONCLUSION 208 


(«l) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Pacb 

ELIZABETH FrofiHspiece 

ELIZABETH    AT   THE   ABBEY I  I3 

QUEEN   ELIZABETH    CONFIRMS   THE    DEATH   WARRANT 

OF  MARY   STUART 1 52 

LAST   MOMENTS   OF  ELIZABETH 2l6 

QPBBN   EUZABBTH  — M.  of  H. 


(«ll> 


Q.UEEN   ELIZABETH 


CHAPTER   I. 
Elizabeth's  Mother. 

Greenwich  Observatory.—  Manner  of  taking  time.—  Henry  the  Eighth.—  Hia 
character.  —  His  six  wives.— Anne  Boleyn.— ICatharine  of  Aragon.— 
Henry  discards  her.— Origin  of  the  English  church.— Henry  marries 
Anne  Boleyn.—  Birth  of  Elizabeth.— Ceremony  of  christening.— Baptism 
of  Elizabeth. —Grand  procession.— Train-bearers.— The  church.— The 
silver  font.— The  presents.— Name  of  the  infant  princess.— Elizabeth 
made  Princess  of  Wales.— Matrimonial  schemes.— Jane  Seymour.— The 
tournament.— The  king's  suspicions.— Queen  Anne  arrested.— She  is 
sent  to  the  Tower.— Sufferings  of  the  queen.— Her  mental  distress.— 
Examination  of  Anne. —  Her  letter  to  the  king.— Anne's  fellow-prison- 
ers.—  They  are  executed. —  Anne  tried  and  condemned. —She  protests  her 
innocence. —  Anne's  execution. —  Disposition  of  the  body. —  The  king's 
brutality. —  Elizabeth's  forlorn  condition. 

TRAVELERS,  in  ascending  the  Thames  by  the  steam- 
boat from  Rotterdam,  on  their  return  from 
an  excursion  to  the  Rhine,  have  often  their 
attention  strongly  attracted  by  what  appears  to  be  a 
splendid  palace  on  the  banks  of  the  river  at  Green- 
wich. The  edifice  is  not  a  palace,  however,  but  a 
hospital,    or    rather,    a    retreat    where   the  worn  out, 

(«5) 


i6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1533 

maimed,  and  crippled  veterans  of  the  English  navy 
spend  the  remnant  of  their  days  in  comfort  and  peace, 
on  pensions  allowed  them  by  the  government  in  whose 
service  they  have  spent  their  strength  or  lost  their 
limbs.  The  magnificent  buildings  of  the  hospital  stand 
on  level  land  near  the  river.  Behind  them  there  is  a 
beautiful  park,  u'hich  extends  over  the  undulating  and 
rising  ground  in  the  rear;  and  on  the  summit  of  one 
of  the  eminences  there  is  the  famous  Greenwich  Observ- 
atory, on  the  precision  of  whose  quadrants  and  microm- 
eters depend  those  calculations  by  which  the  navi- 
gation of  the  world  is  guided.  The  most  unconcerned 
and  careless  spectator  is  interested  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  ships  which  throng  the  river  all  the  way 
from  Greenwich  to  London,  "  take  their  time  "  from  this 
observatory  before  setting  sail  for  distant  seas.  From 
the  top  of  a  cupola  surmounting  the  edifice,  a  slender 
pole  ascends,  with  a  black  ball  upon  it,  so  constructed 
as  to  slide  up  and  down  for  a  few  feet  upon  the  pole. 
When  the  hour  of  12  M.  approaches,  the  ball  slowly 
rises  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  top,  warning  the 
ship-masters  in  the  river  to  be  ready  with  their 
chronometers,  to  observe  and  note  the  precise  instant 
of  its  fall.  When  a  few  seconds  only  remain  of  the 
time,  the  ball  ascends  the  remainder  of  the  distance 
by  a  very  deliberate  motion,  and  then  drops  suddenly 
when  the  instant  arrives.  The  ships  depart  on  their 
several   destinations,    and   for  months  afterward  when 


1533]        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  17 

thousands  of  miles  away  they  depend  for  their  safety 
in  dark  and  stormy  nights,  and  among  dangerous  reefs 
and  rocky  shores,  on  the  nice  approximation  to  correct- 
ness in  the  note  of  time  which  this  descending  ball 
had  given  them. 

This  is  Greenwich,  as  it  exists  at  the  present  day. 
At  the  time  when  the  events  occurred  which  are  to 
be  related  in  this  narrative,  it  was  most  known  on  ac- 
count of  a  royal  palace  which  was  situated  there. 
This  palace  was  the  residence  of  the  then  queen  con- 
sort of  England.  The  king  reigning  at  that  time  was 
Henry  the  Eighth.  He  was  an  unprincipled  and  cruel 
tyrant,  and  the  chief  business  of  his  life  seemed  to  be 
selecting  and  marrying  new  queens,  making  room  for 
each  succeeding  one  by  discarding,  divorcing,  or  be- 
heading her  predecessor.  There  were  six  of  them  in 
all,  and,  with  one  exception,  the  history  of  each  one 
is  a  distinct  and  separate,  but  dreadful  tragedy.  As 
there  were  so  many  of  them,  and  they  figured  as  queens, 
each  for  so  short  a  period,  they  are  commonly  desig- 
nated in  history  by  their  personal  family  names,  and 
even  in  these  names  there  is  a  great  similarity.  There 
were  three  Catharines,  two  Annes,  and  a  Jane.  The 
only  one  who  lived  and  died  in  peace,  respected  and 
beloved  to  the  end,  was  the  Jane. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  the  subject  of  this  narrative,  was 
the  daughter  of  the  second  wife  in  this  strange  suc- 
cession, and  her  mother  was    one  of  the  Annes.     Her 

M.  ofH.— 16-^ 


i8  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1533 

name  in  full  was  Anne  Boleyn.  She  was  young  and 
very  beautiful,  and  Henry,  to  prepare  the  way  for  mak- 
ing her  his  wife,  divorced  his  first  queen,  or  rather 
declared  his  marrage  with  her  null  and  void,  because 
she  had  been,  before  he  married  her,  the  wife  of  his 
brother.  Her  name  was  Catharine  of  Aragon,  She 
was,  while  connected  with  him,  a  faithful,  true,  and 
affectionate  wife.  She  was  a  Catholic.  The  Catholic 
rules  are  very  strict  in  respect  to  the  marriage 
of  relatives,  and  a  special  dispensation  from  the  pope 
was  necessary  to  authorize  marriage  in  such  a  case  as 
that  of  Henry  and  Catharine.  This  dispensation  had, 
however,  been  obtained,  and  Catharine  had,  in  reliance 
upon  it,  consented  to  become  Henry's  wife.  When, 
however,  she  was  no  longer  young  and  beautiful,  and 
Henry  had  become  enamored  of  Anne  Boleyn,  who 
was  so,  he  discarded  Catharine,  and  espoused  the 
beautiful  girl  in  her  stead.  He  wished  the  pope  to 
annul  his  dispensation,  which  would,  of  course,  annul 
the  marriage;  and  because  the  pontiff  refused,  and  all 
the  efforts  of  Henry's  government  were  unavailing  to 
move  him,  he  abandoned  the  Catholic  faith,  and  estab- 
lished an  independent  Protestant  Church  in  England, 
whose  supreme  authority  would  annul  the  marriage. 
Thus,  in  a  great  measure,  came  the  Reformation  in 
England.  The  Catholics  reproach  us,  and,  it  must  be 
confessed,  with  some  justice,  with  the  ignominiousness 
of  its  origin. 


1533]        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  19 

The  course  which  things  thus  took  created  a  great 
deal  of  delay  in  the  formal  annulling  of  the  marriage 
with  Catharine,  which  Henry  was  too  impatient  and 
imperious  to  bear.  He  would  not  wait  for  the  decree 
of  divorce,  but  took  Arme  Boleyn  for  his  wife  before 
his  previous  connection  was  made  void.  He  said  he 
was  privately  married  to  her.  This  he  had,  as  he 
maintained,  a  right  to  do,  for  he  considered  his  first 
marriage  as  void,  absolutely  and  of  itself,  without  any 
decree.  When,  at  length,  the  decree  was  finally 
passed,  he  brought  Anne  Boleyn  forward  as  his  queen, 
and  introduced  her  as  such  to  England  and  to  the 
world  by  a  genuine  marriage  and  a  most  magnificent 
coronation.  The  people  of  England  pitied  poor  Cath- 
arine, but  they  joined  very  cordially,  notwithstanding, 
in  welcoming  the  youthful  and  beautiful  lady  who 
was  to  take  her  place.  All  London  gave  itself  up  to 
festivities  and  rejoicings  on  the  occasion  of  these 
nuptials.  Immediately  after  this  the  young  queen  "-e- 
tired  to  her  palace  in  Greenwich,  and  in  two  or  three 
months  afterward  little  Elizabeth  was  born.  Her 
birth-day  was  the  7th  of  September,   1533. 

The  mother  may  have  loved  the  babe,  but  Henry 
himself  was  sadly  disappointed  that  his  child  was 
not  a  son.  Notwithstanding  her  sex,  however,  she 
was  a  personage  of  great  distinction  from  her  very 
birth,  as  all  the  realm  looked  upon  her  as  heir  to  the 
trown.     Henry  was  himself,  at   this   time,  very   fond 


20     •  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1533 

of  Anne  Boleyn,  though  his  feelings  afterward  were 
entirely  changed.  He  determined  on  giving  to  the 
infant  a  very  splendid  christening.  The  usage  in  the 
Church  of  England  is  to  make  the  christening  of  a 
jhild  not  merely  a  solemn  religious  ceremony,  but  a 
great  festive  occasion  of  congratulations  and  re- 
joicing. The  unconscious  subject  of  the  ceremony  is 
taken  to  the  church.  Certain  near  and  distinguished 
friends,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  appear  as  godfathers 
and  godmothers,  as  they  are  termed,  to  the  child. 
They,  in  the  ceremony,  are  considered  as  presenting 
the  infant  for  consecration  to  Christ,  and  as  becoming 
responsible  for  its  future  initiation  into  the  Christian 
faith.  They  are  hence  sometimes  called  sponsors. 
These  sponsors  are  supposed  to  take,  from  the  time 
of  the  baptism  forward,  a  strong  interest  in  all  that 
pertains  to  the  welfare  of  their  little  charge,  and  they 
usually  manifest  this  interest  by  presents  on  the  day 
of  the  christening.  There  things  are  all  conducted 
with  considerable  ceremony  and  parade  in  ordinary 
cases,  occurring  in  private  life;  and  when  a  princess 
is  to  be  baptized,  all,  even  the  most  minute  details  of 
the  ceremony,  assume  a  great  importance,  and  the 
whole  scene  becomes  one  of  great  pomp  and  splen- 
dor. 

The  babe,  in  this  case,  was  conveyed  to  the 
church  in  a  grand  procession.  The  mayor  and  other 
civic  authorities  in  London  came  down  to  Greenwich 


1533]        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  21 

in  barges,  tastefully  ornamented,  to  join  in  the  cere- 
mony. Tr..  lords  and  ladies  of  King  Henry's  court 
were  also  there,  in  attendance  at  the  palace.  When 
all  were  assembled,  and  everything  was  ready,  the 
procession  moved  from  the  palace  to  the  church  with 
great  pomp.  The  road,  all  the  way,  was  carpeted 
with  green  rushes,  spread  upon  the  ground.  Over 
this  road  the  little  infant  was  borne  by  one  of  her 
godmothers.  She  was  wrapped  in  a  mantle  of  pur- 
ple velvet,  with  a  long  train  appended  to  it,  which 
was  trimmed  with  ermine,  a  very  costly  kind  of  fur, 
used  in  England  as  a  badge  of  authority.  This  train 
was  borne  by  lords  and  ladies  of  high  rank,  who 
were  appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  king,  and 
who  deemed  their  office  a  very  distinguished  honor. 
Besides  these  train-bearers,  there  were  four  lords,  who 
walked  two  on  each  side  of  the  child,  and  who  held 
over  her  a  magnificent  canopy.  Other  personages  of 
high  rank  and  station  followed,  bearing  various  in- 
signia and  emblems,  such  as  by  the  ancient  customs 
of  England  are  employed  on  these  occasions,  and  all 
dressed  sumptuously  in  gorgeous  robes,  and  wearing 
the  badges  and  decorations  pertaining  to  their  rank 
or  the  offices  they  held.  Vast  crowds  of  spectators 
lined  the  way,  and  gazed  upon  the  scene. 

On  arriving  at  the  church,  they  found  the  interior 
splendidly  decorated  for  the  occasion.  Its  walls  were 
lined  throughout  with  tapestry,  and  in  the  center  was 


22  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1533 

a  crimson  canopy,  under  which  was  placed  a  large 
silver  font,  containing  the  water  with  which  the  child 
was  to  be  baptized.  The  ceremony  was  performed 
by  Cranmer,  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  which  is 
the  office  of  the  highest  dignitary  of  the  English 
Church.  After  it  was  performed,  the  procession  re- 
turned as  it  came,  only  now  there  was  an  addition 
of  four  persons  of  high  rank,  who  followed  the  child 
with  the  presents  intended  for  her  by  the  godfathers 
and  godmothers.  These  presents  consisted  of  cups 
and  bowls,  of  beautiful  workmanship,  some  of  silver 
gilt,  and  some  of  solid  gold.  They  were  very  costly, 
though  not  prized  much  yet  by  the  unconscious  in- 
fant for  whom  they  were  intended.  She  went  and 
came,  in  the  midst  of  this  gay  and  joyous  proces- 
sion, little  imagining  into  what  a  restless  and  unsat- 
isfying life  all  this  pageantry  and  splendor  were 
ushering  her. 

They  named  the  child  Elizabeth,  from  her  grand- 
mother. There  have  been  many  queens  of  that  name, 
but  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England  became  so  much 
more  distinguished  than  any  other,  that  that  name 
alone  has  become  her  usual  designation.  Her  family 
name  was  Tudor.  As  she  was  never  married, —  for, 
though  her  life  was  one  perpetual  scene  of  matri- 
monial schemes  and  negotiations,  she  lived  and  died 
a  maiden  lady, —  she  has  been  sometimes  called  the 
Virgin  Queen,  and    one    of  the    states   of  this  Union, 


1536J        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  23 

Virginia,  receives  its  name  from  this  designation  of 
Elizabeth.  She  is  also  often  familiarly  called  Queen  Bess. 
Making  little  Elizabeth  presents  of  gold  and  silver 
plate,  and  arranging  splendid  pageants  for  her,  were 
not  the  only  plans  for  her  aggrandizement  which 
were  formed  during  the  period  of  her  infantile  un- 
consciousness. The  king,  her  father,  first  had  an  act 
of  Parliament  passed,  solemnly  recognizing  and  con- 
firming her  claim  as  heir  to  the  crown,  and  the  title 
of  Princess  of  Wales  was  formally  conferred  upon 
her.  When  these  things  were  done,  Henry  began 
to  consider  how  he  could  best  promote  his  own  po- 
litical schemes  by  forming  an  engagement  of  mar- 
riage for  her,  and  when  she  was  only  about  two 
years  of  age,  he  offered  her  to  the  King  of  France  as 
the  future  wife  of  one  of  his  sons,  on  certain  condi- 
tions of  political  service  which  he  wished  him  to 
perform.  But  the  King  of  France  would  not  accede 
to  the  terms,  and  so  this  plan  was  abandoned.  Eliz- 
abeth was,  however,  notwithstanding  this  failure,  an 
object  of  universal  interest  and  attention,  as  the 
daughter  of  a  very  powerful  monarch,  and  the  heir 
to  his  crown.  Her  life  opened  with  very  bright  and 
serene  prospects  of  future  greatness;  but  all  these 
prospects  were  soon  apparently  cut  off  by  a  very 
heavy  cloud  which  arose  to  darken  her  sky.  This 
cloud  was  the  sudden  and  dreadful  fall  and  ruin  of 
her  mother. 


24  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1536 

Queen  Anne  Boleyn  was  originally  a  maid  of 
honor  to  Queen  Catharine,  and  became  acquainted 
with  King  Henry  and  gained  his  affections  while  she 
was  acting  in  that  capacity.  When  she  became 
queen  herself,  she  had,  of  course,  her  own  maids  of 
honor,  and  among  them  was  one  named  Jane  Sey- 
mour. Jane  was  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  lady, 
and  in  the  end  she  supplanted  her  mistress  and  queen 
in  Henry's  affections,  just  as  Anne  herself  had  sup- 
planted Catharine.  The  king  had  removed  Catharine 
to  make  way  for  Anne,  by  annulling  his  marriage 
with  her  on  account  of  their  relationship  ;  what  way 
could  he  contrive  now  to  remove  Anne,  so  as  to 
make  way  for  Jane  ? 

He  began  to  entertain,  or  to  pretend  to  entertain, 
feelings  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  that  Anne  was  un- 
faithful to  him.  One  day,  at  a  sort  of  tournament  in 
the  park  of  the  royal  palace  at  Greenwich,  when  a 
great  crowd  of  gayly-dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen 
were  assembled  to  witness  the  spectacle,  the  queen 
dropped  her  handkerchief.  A  gentleman  whom  the 
king  had  suspected  of  being  one  of  her  favorites 
picked  it  up.  He  did  not  immediately  restore  it  to 
her.  There  was,  besides,  something  in  the  air  and 
manner  of  the  gentleman,  and  in  the  attendant  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  which  the  king's  mind  seized 
upon  as  evidence  of  criminal  gallantry  between  the 
parties.     He   was,  or    at   least  pretended   to   be,  in   a 


1536]        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  25 

great  rage.  He  left  the  field  immediately  and  went 
to  London.  The  tournament  was  broken  up  in  con- 
fusion, the  queen  was  seized  by  the  king's  orders, 
conveyed  to  her  palace  in  Greenwich,  and  shut  up  in 
her  chamber,  with  a  lady  who  had  always  been  her 
rival  and  enemy  to  guard  her.  She  was  in  great  con- 
sternation and  sorrow,  but  she  declared  most  sol- 
emnly that  she  was  innocent  of  any  crime,  and  had 
always  been  true  and  faithful  to  the  king. 

The  next  day  she  was  taken  from  her  palace  at 
Greenwich  up  the  river,  probably  in  a  barge  well 
guarded  by  armed  men,  to  the  Tower  of  London. 
The  Tower  is  an  ancient  and  very  extensive  castle, 
consisting  of  a  great  number  of  buildings  inclosed 
within  a  high  wall.  It  is  in  the  lower  part  of  Lon- 
don, on  the  bank  of  the  Thames,  with  a  flight  of 
stairs  leading  down  to  the  river  from  a  great  postern 
gate.  The  unhappy  queen  was  landed  at  these  stairs 
and  conveyed  into  the  castle,  and  shut  up  in  a  gloomy 
apartment,  with  walls  of  stone  and  windows  barri- 
caded with  strong  bars  of  iron.  There  were  four  or 
five  gentlemen,  attendants  upon  the  queen  in  her  pal- 
ace at  Greenwich,  whom  the  king  suspected,  or  pre- 
tended to  suspect,  of  being  her  accomplices  in  crime, 
that  were  arrested  at  the  same  time  with  her  and 
closely  confined. 

When  the  poor  queen  was  introduced  into  her 
dungeon,  she  fell  on    her   knees,  and,  in  an  agony  of 


i6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1536 

terror  and  despair,  she  implored  God  to  help  her  in  this 
hour  of  her  extremity,  and  most  solemnly  called  Him 
to  witness  that  she  was  innocent  of  the  crime  imputed 
to  her  charge.  Seeking  thus  a  refuge  in  God  calmed 
and  composed  her  in  some  small  degree;  but  when, 
again,  thoughts  of  the  imperious  and  implacable  tem- 
per of  her  husband  came  over  her,  of  the  impetuous- 
ness  of  his  passions,  of  the  certainty  that  he  wished 
her  removed  out  of  the  way  in  order  that  room  might 
be  made  for  her  rival,  and  then,  when  her  distracted 
mind  turned  to  the  forlorn  and  helpless  condition  of 
her  little  daughter  Elizabeth,  now  scarcely  three  years 
old,  her  fortitude  and  self-possession  forsook  her  en- 
tirely; she  sank  half  insane  upon  her  bed,  in  long  and 
uncontrollable  paroxysms  of  sobs  and  tears,  alternating 
with  still  more  uncontrollable  and  frightful  bursts  of 
hysterical   laughter. 

The  king  sent  a  commission  to  take  her  examina- 
tion. At  the  same  time,  he  urged  her,  by  the  persons 
whom  he  sent,  to  confess  her  guilt,  promising  her 
that,  if  she  did  so,  her  life  should  be  spared.  She, 
however,  protested  her  innocence  with  the  utmost 
firmness  and  constancy.  She  begged  earnestly  to  be 
allowed  to  see  the  king,  and,  when  this  was  refused, 
she  wrote  a  letter  to  him,  which  still  remains,  and 
which  expresses  very  strongly  the  acuteness  of  her 
mental  sufferings. 

In  this  letter,  she  said  that   she  was   so  distressed 


1536J        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  27 

and  bewildered  by  the  king's  displeasure  and  her  im- 
prisonment, that  she  hardly  knew  what  to  think  or 
to  say.  She  assured  him  that  she  had  always  been 
faithful  and  true  to  him,  and  begged  that  he  would 
not  cast  an  indelible  stain  upon  her  own  fair  fame 
and  that  of  her  innocent  and  helpless  child  by  such 
unjust  and  groundless  imputations.  She  begged  him 
to  let  her  have  a  fair  trial  by  impartial  persons,  who 
would  weigh  the  evidence  against  her  in  a  just  and 
equitable  manner.  She  was  sure  that  by  this  course 
her  innocence  would  be  established,  and  he  himself, 
and  all  mankind,  would  see  that  she  had  been  most 
unjustly  accused. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  she  added,  the  king 
had  determined  on  her  destruction,  in  order  to  re- 
move an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  possession  of  a 
new  object  of  love,  she  prayed  that  God  would  for- 
give him  and  all  her  enemies  for  so  great  a  sin,  and 
not  call  him  to  account  for  it  at  the  last  day.  She 
urged  him,  at  all  events,  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
four  gentlemen  who  had  been  accused,  as  she  assured 
him  they  were  wholly  innocent  of  the  crime  laid  to 
their  charge,  begging  him,  if  he  had  ever  loved  the 
name  of  Anne  Boleyn,  to  grant  this  her  last  request. 
She  signed  her  letter  his  "most  loyal  and  ever  faith- 
ful wife,"  and  dated  it  from  her  "doleful  prison  in 
the  Tower." 

The  four  gentlemen  were  promised  that  their  lives 


28  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1536 

should  be  spared  if  they  would  confess  their  guilt. 
One  of  them  did,  accordingly,  admit  his  guilt,  and 
the  others  persisted  to  the  end  in  firmly  denying  it. 
They  who  think  Anne  Boleyn  was  innocent,  suppose 
that  the  one  who  confessed  did  it  as  the  most  likely 
mode  of  averting  destruction,  as  men  have  often  been 
known,  under  the  influence  of  fear,  to  confess  crimes 
of  which  it  was  afterward  proved  they  could  not 
have  been  guilty.  If  this  was  his  motive,  it  was  of 
no  avail.  The  four  persons  accused,  after  a  very  in- 
formal trial,  in  which  nothing  was  really  proved 
.^gainst  them,  were  condemned,  apparently  to  please 
the  king,  and  were  executed  together. 

Three  days  after  this  the  queen  herself  was  brought 
to  trial  before  the  peers.  The  number  of  peers  of 
the  realm  in  England  at  this  time  was  fifty-three. 
Only  twenty-six  were  present  at  the  trial.  The  king 
is  charged  with  making  such  arrangements  as  to  pre- 
vent the  attendance  of  those  who  would  be  unwill- 
ing to  pass  sentence  of  condemnation.  At  any  rate, 
those  who  did  attend  professed  to  be  satisfied  of  the 
guilt  of  the  accused,  and  they  sentenced  her  to  be 
burned,  or  to  be  beheaded,  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
king.     He  decided  that  she  should  be  beheaded. 

The  execution  was  to  take  place  in  a  little  green 
area  within  the  Tower.  The  platform  was  erected 
here,  and  the  block  placed  upon  it,  the  whole  being 
covered  with    a    black  cloth,  as  usual    on    such    occa- 


1536]        ELIZABETH'S  MOTHER  29 

sions.  On  the  morning  of  the  fatal  day,  Anne  sent 
for  the  constable  of  the  Tower  to  come  in  and  re- 
ceive her  dying  protestations  that  she  was  innocent 
of  the  crimes  alleged  against  her.  She  told  him  that 
she  understood  that  she  was  not  to  die  until  12 
o'clock,  and  that  she  was  sorry  for  it,  for  she  wished 
to  have  it  over.  The  constable  told  her  the  pain 
would  be  very  slight  and  momentary.  "Yes,"  she 
rejoined,  "  I  am  told  that  a  very  skillful  executioner 
is  provided,  and  my  neck  is  very  slender." 

At  the  appointed  hour  she  was  led  out  into  the 
court-yard  where  the  execution  was  to  take  place. 
There  were  about  twenty  persons  present,  all  officers  of 
state  or  of  the  city  of  London.  The  bodily  suffering  at- 
tendant upon  the  execution  was  very  soon  over,  for  the 
slender  neck  was  severed  at  a  single  blow,  and  prob- 
ably all  sensibility  to  pain  immediately  ceased.  Still, 
the  lips  and  the  eyes  were  observed  to  move  and 
quiver  for  a  few  seconds  after  the  separation  of  the 
head  from  the  body.  It  was  a  relief,  however,  to  the 
spectators  when  this  strange  and  unnatural  prolonga- 
tion of  the  mysterious  functions  of  life  came  to  an  end. 

No  coffin  had  been  provided.  They  found,  how- 
ever, an  old  wooden  chest,  made  to  contain  arrows, 
lying  in  one  of  the  apartments  of  the  tower,  which 
they  used  instead.  They  first  laid  the  decapitated 
trunk  within  it,  and  then  adjusted  the  dissevered  head 
to  its  place,  as   if  vainly   attempting  to  repair   the  ir- 


30  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1536 

retrievable  injury  they  had  done.  They  hurried  the 
body,  thus  enshrined,  to  its  burial  in  a  chapel,  which 
was  also  within  the  tower,  doing  all  with  such  dis- 
patch that  the  whole  was  finished  before  the  clock 
struck  twelve;  and  the  next  day  the  unfeeling  mon- 
ster who  was  the  author  of  this  dreadful  deed  was 
publicly  married  to  his  new  favorite,  Jane  Seymour. 

The  king  had  not  merely  procured  Anne's  personal 
condemnation  ;  he  had  also  obtained  a  decree  annul- 
ling his  marriage  with  her,  on  the  ground  of  her  having 
been,  as  he  attempted  to  prove,  previously  affianced 
to  another  man.  This  was,  obviously,  a  mere  pre- 
tense. The  object  was  to  cut  off  Elizabeth's  rights 
to  inherit  the  crown,  by  making  his  marriage  with 
her  mother  void.  Thus  was  the  little  princess  left 
motherless  and  friendless  when    only  three  years   old. 


CHAPTER    II. 
The  Childhood  of  a  Princess. 

SHaabeth's  condition  at  the  death  of  her  mother. —  Her  residence. —  lyCtter 
of  I,ady  Bryan,  Elizabeth's  governess. —  Conclusion  of  letter. —  Troubles 
and  trials  of  infancy. —  Birth  of  Edward. —  The  king  reconciled  to  his 
daughters. —  Death  of  King  Henry. —  His  children. —  King  Henry's  vio- 
lence.—  The  order  of  succession. —  Elizabeth's  troubles. —  The  two  Sey- 
mours.—  The  queen  dowager's  marriage.—  The  Seymours  quarrel. — 
Somerset's  power  and  influence. — Jealousies  and  quarrels. —  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots. —  Marriage  schemes. —  Seymour's  promotion. —  Jane  Grey. — 
Family  quarrels. —  Death  of  the  queen  dowager. —  Seymour's  schemes. — 
Seymour  s  arrest. —  His  trial  and  attainder. —  Seymour  beheaded. — 
Elizabeth's  trial's. —  Elizabeth's  firmness. —  I,ady  Tyrwhitt. —  Elizabeth's 
sufferings. —  Her  fidelity  to  her  friends. 

ELIZABETH  was  about  three  years  old  at  the  death 
of  her  mother.  She  was  a  princess,  but  she 
was  left  in  a  very  forlorn  and  desolate  con- 
dition. She  was  not,  however,  entirely  abandoned. 
Her  claims  to  inherit  the  crown  had  been  set  aside, 
but  then  she  was,  as  all  admitted,  the  daughter  of  the 
king,  and  she  must,  of  course,  be  the  object  of  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  consideration  and  ceremony.  It  would 
be  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  notions  of  royal  dig- 
nity which  then  prevailed  to  have  her  treated  like  an 
ordinary  child. 

She  had  a  residence   assigned  her  at  a  place  called 
Hunsdon,  and  was  put  under  the  charge  of  a  govern- 


32  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1536 

ess  whose  name  was  Lady  Bryan.  There  is  an  ancient 
letter  from  Lady  Bryan,  still  extant,  which  was  writ- 
ten to  one  of  the  king's  officers  about  Elizabeth,  ex- 
plaming  her  destitute  condition,  and  asking  for  a  more 
suitable  supply  for  her  wants.  It  may  entertain  the 
reader  to  see  this  relic,  which  not  only  illustrates  our 
little  heroine's  condition,  but  also  shows  how  great 
the  changes  are  which  our  language  has  undergone 
within  the  last  three  hundred  years.  The  letter,  as 
here  given,  is  abridged  a  little  from  the  original: 

My  Lord: 

When  your  Lordship  was  last  here,  it  pleased  you  to  say  that  I 
should  not  be  mistrustful  of  the  King's  Grace,  nor  of  your  Lordship 
which  word  was  of  great  comfort  to  me,  and  emboldeneth  me  now 
to  speak  my  poor  mind. 

Now  so  it  is,  my  Lord,  that  my  Lady  EUzabeth  is  put  from  the 
degree  she  was  afore,  and  what  degree  she  is  at  now  *  I  know  not 
but  by  hearsay.  Therefore  I  know  not  how  to  order  her,  nor  myself, 
nor  none  of  hers  that  I  have  the  rule  of — that  is,  her  women  and  her 
grooms.  But  I  beseech  you  to  be  good,  my  Lord,  to  her  and  to  all 
hers,  and  to  let  her  have  some  rayment;  for  she  has  neither  gown, 
nor  kirtle,  nor  no  manner  of  linen,  nor  foresmocks,  nor  kerchiefs,  nor 
sleeves,  nor  rails,  nor  bodystitchets,  nor  mufflers,  nor  biggins.  All 
these  her  Grace's  wants  1  have  driven  off  as  long  as  I  can,  by  my 
troth,  but  I  can  not  any  longer.  Beseeching  you,  my  Lord,  that  you 
will  see  that  her  Grace  may  have  that  is  needful  for  her,  and  that  1 
may  know  from  you,  in  writing,  how  I  shall  order  myself  towards  her, 
and  whatever  is  the  King's  Grace's  pleasure  and  yours,  in  every  thing 
that  1  shall  do. 

My  Lord  Mr.  Shelton  would  have  my  Lady  Elizabeth  to  dine  and 
sup  at  the  board  of  estate.     Alas,  my  Lord,  it  is  not  meet  for  a  child 


*That   is,    in  what   light   the   king  and  the  government  wish  to 
have  her  regarded,  and  how  they  wish  her  to  be  treated. 


1536]  CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS      33 

of  her  age  to  keep  such  rule  yet.  I  promise  you,  my  Lord,  I  dare  no* 
take  upon  me  to  keep  her  in  health  and  she  keep  that  rule;  for  there 
she  siial!  see  divers  meats,  and  fruits,  and  wines,  which  would  be  hard 
-for  me  to  restrain  her  Grace  from  it.  You  know,  my  Lord,  there  is 
no  place  of  correction*  there,  and  she  is  yet  too  young  to  correct 
greatly.  I  know  well,  and  she  be  there,  I  shall  never  bring  her  up 
to  the  King's  Grace's  honor  nor  hers,  nor  to  her  health,  nor  my  poor 
honesty.  Wherefore,  I  beseech  you,  my  Lord,  that  my  Lady  may 
have  a  mess  of  meat  to  hei  own  lodging,  with  a  good  dish  or  two  that 
is  meet  for  her  Grace  to  eat  of. 

My  Lady  hath  likewise  great  pain  with  her  teeth,  and  they  come 
very  slowly  forth,  and  this  causeth  me  to  suffer  her  Grace  to  have  her 
will  more  than  1  would.  I  trust  to  God,  and  her  teeth  were  well 
graft^  to  have  her  Grace  after  another  fashion  than  she  is  yer,  so  as  I 
i:USt  the  King's  Grace  shall  have  great  comfort  in  her  Grace,  for  she 
ij,  as  toward  a  child,  and  as  gentle  of  conditions,  as  ever  I  knew  any 
in  niy  iife.    Jesu  preserve  her  Grace. 

Good  my  Lord,  have  my  Lady's  Grace,  and  us  that  be  her  poor 
servants  in  your  remembrance. 

This  letter  evinces  tliat  strange  mixture  of  state  and 
splendor  with  discomfort  and  destitution,  which  pre- 
vailed very  extensively  in  royal  households  in  those 
early  times.  A  part  of  the  privation  which  Elizabeth 
seems,  from  this  letter,  to  have  endured,  was  doubt- 
less owing  to  the  rough  manners  of  the  day;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  she  was  also,  at  least  for  a  time, 
in  a  neglected  and  forsaken  condition.  The  new  queen, 
Jane  Seymour,  who  succeeded  Elizabeth's  mother,  had 
a  son  a  year  or  two  after  her  marriage.  He  was  named 
Edward.  Thus  Henry  had  three  children,  Mary,  Eliza- 
beth, and   Edward,  each  one   the  child  of  a  different 


•  That  is,  opportunity  foi  correction. 
M.  of  H.— 16-7 


34  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1547 

wife  ;  and  the  last  of  them,  the  son,  appears  to 
have  monopolized,  for  a  time,  the  king's  affection  and 
care. 

Still,  the  hostility  which  the  king  had  felt  for  these 
queens  in  succession  was  owing,  as  has  been  already 
said,  to  his  desire  to  remove  them  out  of  his  way, 
that  he  might  be  at  liberty  to  marry  again;  and  so, 
after  the  mothers  were,  one  after  another,  removed, 
the  hostility  itself,  so  far  as  the  children  were  con- 
cerned, gradually  subsided,  and  the  king  began  to  look 
both  upon  Mary  and  Elizabeth  with  favor  again.  He 
even  formed  plans  for  marrying  Elizabeth  to  persons 
of  distinction  in  foreign  countries,  and  he  entered 
into  some  negotiations  for  this  purpose.  He  had  a 
decree  passed,  too,  at  last,  reversing  the  sentence  by 
which  the  two  princesses  were  cut  off  from  an  inher- 
itance of  the  crown.  Thus  they  were  restored,  during 
their  father's  life,  to  their  proper  rank  as  royal 
princesses. 

At  last  the  king  died  in  1547,  leaving  only  these 
three  children,  each  one  the  child  of  a  different  wife. 
Mary  was  a  maiden  lady,  of  about  thirty-one  years  of 
age.  She  was  a  stern,  austere,  hard-hearted  woman, 
whom  nobody  loved.  She  was  the  daughter  of  King 
Henry's  first  wife.  Catharine  of  Aragon,  and,  like  her 
mother,  was  a  decided  Catholic. 

Next  came  Elizabeth,  who  v/as  about  fourteen 
vears    of  age.     She    was   the   daughter    cf  the    king's 


1547]    CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS     35 

second  wife,  Queen  Anne  Boleyn.  She  had  been  ed- 
ucated a  Protestant.  She  was  not  pretty,  but  was  a 
very  lively  and  sprightly  child,  altogether  different 
in  her  cast  of  character  and  in  her  manners  from  her 
sister  Mary. 

Then,  lastly,  there  was  Edward,  the  son  of  Jane 
Seymour,  the  third  queen.  He  was  about  nine  years 
of  age  at  his  fathers  death.  He  was  a  boy  of  good 
character,  mild  and  gentle  in  his  disposition,  fond  of 
study  and  reflection,  and  a  general  favorite  with  all 
who  knew  him. 

It  was  considered  in  those  days  that  a  king  might, 
in  some  sense,  dispose  of  his  crown  by  will,  just  as, 
at  the  present  time,  a  man  may  bequeath  his  house 
or  his  farm.  Of  course,  there  were  some  limits  to 
this  power,  and  the  concurrence  of  Parliament  seems 
to  have  been  required  to  the  complete  validity  of 
such  a  settlement.  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  however, 
had  little  difficulty  in  carrying  any  law  through  Par- 
liament which  he  desired  to  have  enacted.  It  is  said 
that,  on  one  occasion,  when  there  was  some  delay 
about  passing  a  bill  of  his,  he  sent  for  one  of  the 
most  influential  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons to  come  into  his  presence.  The  member  came 
and  kneeled  before  him.  "Ho,  man!"  said  the  king, 
"and  will  they  not  suffer  my  bill  to  pass?"  He  then 
came  up  and  put  his  hand  upon  the  kneeling  legisla- 
tor's head,  and  added,  "Get  my  bill  passed  to-morrow, 


26  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1547 

or  else  by  to-morrow  this  head  of  yours  shall  be  off." 
The  next  day  the  bill  was  passed  accordingly. 

King  Henry,  before  he  died,  arranged  the  order  of 
succession  to  the  throne  as  follows:  Edward  was  to 
succeed  him;  but,  as  he  was  a  minor,  being  then 
only  nine  years  of  age,  a  great  council  of  state,  con- 
sisting of  sixteen  persons  of  the  highest  rank,  was 
appointed  to  govern  the  kingdom  in  his  name  until 
he  should  be  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  was  to 
become  king  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name.  In  case 
he  should  die  without  heirs,  then  Mary,  his  oldest 
sister,  was  to  succeed  him;  and  if  she  died  without 
heirs,  then  Elizabeth  was  to  succeed  her.  This  ar- 
rangement went  into  full  effect.  The  council  gov- 
erned the  kingdom  in  Edward's  name  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  died.  Then  Mary  fol- 
lowed, and  reigned  as  queen  five  years  longer,  and 
died  without  children,  and  during  all  this  time  Eliz- 
abeth held  the  rank  of  a  princess,  exposed  to  a  thou- 
sand difficulties  and  dangers  from  the  plots,  intrigues, 
and  conspiracies  of  those  about  her,  in  which,  on 
account  of  her  peculiar  position  and  prospects,  she 
was  necessarily  involved. 

One  of  the  worst  of  these  cases  occurred  soon  after 
her  father's  death.  There  were  two  brothers  of  Jane 
Seymour,  who  were  high  in  King  Henry's  favor  at 
the  time  of  his  decease.  The  oldest  is  known  in 
history  by  his  title  of  the  Earl  of  Hertford  at  first,  and 


1547]    CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS      37 

afterward  by  that  of  Duke  of  Somerset.  The  youngest 
was  called  Sir  Thomas  Seymour.  They  were  both 
made  members  of  the  government  which  was  to  ad- 
minister the  affairs  of  state  during  young  Edward's 
minority.  They  were  not,  however,  satisfied  with  any 
moderate  degree  of  power.  Being  brothers  of  Jane 
Seymour,  who  was  Edward's  mother,  they  were  his 
uncles,  of  course,  and  the  oldest  one  soon  succeeded 
in  causing  himself  to  be  appointed  protector.  By  this 
office  he  was,  in  fact,   king,  all  except  in  name. 

The  younger  brother,  who  was  an  agreeable  and 
accomplished  man,  paid  his  addresses  to  the  queen 
dowager,  that  is,  to  the  widow  whom  King  Henry 
left,  for  the  last  of  his  wives  was  living  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  She  consented  to  marry  him,  and  the  mar- 
riage took  place  almost  immediately  after  the  king's 
death  —  so  soon  in  fact,  that  it  was  considered  ex- 
tremely hasty  and  unbecoming.  This  queen  dowager 
had  two  houses  left  to  her,  one  at  Chelsea,  and  the  other 
at  Hanworth,  towns  some  little  distance  up  the  river 
from  London.  Here  she  resided  with  her  new  husband, 
sometimes  at  one  of  the  houses,  and  sometimes  at 
the  other.  The  king  had  also  directed,  in  his  will, 
that  the  Princess  Elizabeth  should  be  under  her  care, 
so  that  Elizabeth,  immediately  after  her  father's  death, 
lived  at  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  houses  under 
the  care  of  Seymour,  who,  from  having  been  her 
uncle,    became    now,    in    some  sense,    her  father.    He 


38  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1547 

was  a  sort  of  uncle,  for  he  was  the  brother  of  one  of 
her  father's  wives.  He  was  a  sort  of  father,  for  he 
was  the  husband  of  another  of  them.  Yet,  really,  by 
blood,  there  was  no  relation  between  them. 

The  two  brothers,  Somerset  and  Seymour,  quar- 
reled. Each  was  very  ambitious,  and  very  jealous  of 
the  other.  Somerset,  in  addition  to  being  appointed 
protector  by  the  council,  got  a  grant  of  power  from 
the  young  king,  called  a  patent.  This  commission  was 
executed  with  great  formality,  and  was  sealed  with 
the  great  seal  of  state,  and  it  made  Somerset,  in  some 
measure,  independent  of  the  other  nobles  whom  King 
Henry  had  associated  with  him  in  the  government. 
By  this  patent  he  was  placed  in  supreme  command 
of  all  the  forces  by  land  and  sea.  He  had  a  seat  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne,  under  the  great  canopy 
of  state,  and  whenever  he  went  abroad  on  public  oc- 
casions, he  assumed  all  the  pomp  and  parade  which 
would  have  been  expected  in  a  real  king.  Young 
Edward  was  wholly  under  his  influence,  and  did 
always  whatever  Somerset  recommended  him  to  do. 
Seymour  was  very  jealous  of  all  this  greatness,  and 
was  contriving  every  means  in  his  power  to  circum- 
vent and  supersede  his  brother. 

The  wives,  too,  of  these  great  statesmen  quarreled. 
The  Duchess  of  Somerset  thought  she  was  entitled  to 
the  precedence,  because  she  was  the  wife  of  the  pro- 
tector, who,  being   a  kind  of  regent,  she   thought  he 


1547]    CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS     39 

was  entitled  to  have  his  wife  considered  as  a  sort  of 
queen.  The  wife  of  Seymour,  an  the  other  hand, 
contended  that  she  was  entitled  to  the  precedence  as 
a  real  queen,  having  been  herself  the  actual  consort 
of  a  reigning  monarch.  The  two  ladies  disputed  per- 
petually on  this  point,  which,  of  course,  could  never 
be  settled.  They  enlisted,  however,  on  their  re- 
spective sides  various  partisans,  producing  a  great  deal 
of  jealousy  and  ill  will,  and  increasing  the  animosity 
of  their  husbands. 

All  this  time  the  celebrated  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
was  an  infant  in  Janet  Sinclair's  arms,  at  the  castle  of 
Stirling,  in  Scotland.  King  Henry,  during  his  life,  had 
made  a  treaty  with  the  government  of  Scotland,  by 
which  it  was  agreed  that  Mary  should  be  married  to 
his  son  Edward  as  soon  as  the  two  children  should 
have  grown  to  maturity;  but  afterward,  the  govern- 
ment of  Scotland  having  fallen  from  Protestant  into 
Catholic  hands,  they  determined  that  this  match  must 
be  given  up.  The  English  authorities  were  very  much 
incensed.  They  wished  to  have  the  marriage  take 
effect,  as  it  would  end  in  uniting  the  Scotch  and 
English  kingdoms;  and  the  protector,  when  a  time 
arrived  which  he  thought  was  favorable  for  his  pur- 
pose, raised  an  army  and  marched  northward  to  make 
war  upon  Scotland,  and  compel  the  Scots  to  fulfill 
the  contract  of  marriage. 

While    his    brother    was   gone    to    the    northward, 


40  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1547 

Seymour  remained  at  home,  and  endeavored,  by  every 
means  within  his  reach,  to  strengthen  his  own  influ- 
ence and  increase  his  power.  He  contrived  to  ob- 
tain from  the  council  of  government  the  office  of 
lord  high  admiral,  which  gave  him  the  com.mand  of 
the  fleet,  and  made  him,  next  to  his  brother,  the  most 
powerful  and  important  personage  in  the  realm.  He 
had,  besides,  as  has  already  been  stated,  the  custody 
and  care  of  Elizabeth,  who  lived  in  his  house;  though, 
as  he  was  a  profligate  and  unprincipled  man,  this  po- 
sition for  the  princess,  now  fast  growing  up  to  wom- 
anhood, was  considered  by  many  persons  as  of 
doubtful  propriety.  Still,  she  was  at  present  only  four- 
teen years  old.  There  was  another  young  lady  like- 
wise in  his  family,  a  niece  of  King  Henry,  and,  of 
course,  a  second  cousin  of  Elizabeth.  Her  name  was 
Jane  Grey.  It  was  a  very  unhappy  family.  The  man- 
ners and  habits  of  all  the  members  of  it,  excepting 
Jane  Grey,  seem  to  have  been  very  rude  and  irregu- 
lar. The  admiral  quarreled  with  his  wife,  and  was 
jealous  of  the  'r^ery  servants  who  waited  upon  her. 
The  queen  observed  something  in  the  manners  of 
her  husband  toward  the  young  princess  which  made 
her  angry  both  with  him  and  her.  Elizabeth  resented 
this,  and  a  violent  quarrel  ensued,  which  ended  in 
their  separation.  Elizabeth  went  away,  and  resided 
afterward  at  a  place  called  Hatfield. 

Very  soon  after  this,  the  queen  dowager  died  sud- 


1548]    CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS     41 

denly.  People  accused  Seymour,  her  husband,  of  hav- 
ing poisoned  her,  in  order  to  make  way  for  the  Prin- 
cess Elizabeth  to  be  his  wife.  He  denied  this,  but 
he  immediately  began  to  lay  his  plans  for  securing 
the  hand  of  Elizabeth.  There  was  a  probability  that 
she  might,  at  some  future  time,  succeed  to  the  crown, 
and  then,  if  he  were  her  husband,  he  thought  he 
should  be  the  real  sovereign,  reigning  in  her  name. 

Elizabeth  had  in  her  household  two  persons,  a 
certain  Mrs.  Ashley,  who  was  then  her  governess, 
and  a  man  named  Parry,  who  was  a  sort  of  treas- 
urer. He  was  called  the  cofferer.  The  admiral 
gained  these  persons  over  to  his  interests,  and,  through 
them,  attempted  to  open  communications  with  Eliza- 
beth, and  persuade  her  to  enter  into  his  designs.  Of 
course,  the  whole  affair  was  managed  with  great  se- 
crecy. They  were  all  liable  to  a  charge  of  treason 
against  the  government  of  Edward  by  such  plots,  as 
his  ministers  and  counselors  might  maintain  that 
their  design  was  to  overthrov/  Edward's  government 
and  make  Elizabeth  queen.  They,  therefore,  were  all 
banded  together  to  keep  their  councils  secret,  and 
Elizabeth  was  drawn,  in  some  degree,  into  the 
scheme,  though  precisely  how  far  was  never  fully 
known,  it  was  supposed  that  she  began  to  love 
•Seymour,  although  he  was  very  much  older  than  her- 
self, and  to  be  willing  to  become  his  wife.  It  is  not 
surprising    that,    neglected   and    forsaken    as   she    had 


42  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1548 

been,  she  should  have  been  inclined  to  regard  with 
favor  an  agreeable  and  influential  man,  who  expressed 
a  strong  aflfection  for  her,  and  a  warm  interest  in 
her  welfare. 

However  this  may  be,  Elizabeth  was  one  day 
struck  with  consternation  at  hearing  that  Seymour 
was  arrested  by  order  of  his  brother,  who  had  re- 
turned from  Scotland  and  had  received  information  of 
his  designs,  and  that  he  had  been  committed  to  the 
Tower.  He  had  a  hurried  and  irregular  trial,  or  what, 
in  those  days,  was  called  a  trial.  The  council  went 
themselves  to  the  Tower,  and  had  him  brought  be- 
fore them  and  examined.  He  demanded  to  have  the 
charges  made  out  in  form,  and  the  witnesses  con- 
fronted with  him,  but  the  council  were  satisfied  of 
his  guilt  without  these  formalities.  The  Parliament 
immediately  afterward  passed  a  bill  of  attainder  against 
him,  by  which  he  was  sentenced  to  death.  His 
brother,  the  protector,  signed  the  warrant  for  his  ex- 
ecution, and  he  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill, 

The  protector  sent  two  messengers  in  the  course 
of  this  affair  to  Elizaberh,  to  see  what  they  could 
ascertain  from  her  about  it.  Sir  Robert  Tyrwhitt  was 
the  name  of  the  principal  one  of  these  messengers. 
When  the  cofferer  learned  that  they  were  at  the  gate, 
he  went  in  great  terror  into  his  chamber,  and  said 
that  he  was  undone.  At  the  same  time,  he  pulled  off 
a  chain  from  his  neck   and  the  rings  from  his  fingers. 


1548]   CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS     43 

and  threw  them  away  from  him  with  gesticulations 
of  despair.  The  messengers  then  came  to  Elizabeth, 
and  told  her,  falsely  as  it  seems,  with  a  view  to 
frighten  her  into  confessions,  that  Mrs.  Ashley  and 
the  cofferer  were  both  secured  and  sent  to  the  Tower. 
She  seemed  very  much  alarmed;  she  wept  bitterly, 
and  it  was  a  long  time  before  she  regained  her  com- 
posure. She  wanted  to  know  whether  they  had  con- 
fessed any  thing.  The  protector's  messengers  would 
not  tell  her  this,  but  they  urged  her  to  confess  her- 
self all  that  had  occurred;  for,  whatever  it  was,  they 
said,  that  the  evil  and  shame  would  all  be  ascribed 
to  the  other  persons  concerned,  and  not  to  her,  on 
account  of  her  youth  and  inexperience.  But  Elizabeth 
would  confess  nothing.  The  messengers  went  away, 
convinced,  as  they  said,  that  she  was  guilty;  they 
could  see  that  in  her  countenance;  and  that  her  si- 
lence was  owing  to  her  firm  determination  not  to  be- 
tray her  lover.  They  sent  word  to  the  protector  that 
they  did  not  believe  that  any  body  would  succeed  in 
drawing  the  least  information  from  her,  unless  it  was 
the  protector,  or  young  King  Edward  himself. 

These  mysterious  circumstances  produced  a  some- 
what unfavorable  impression  in  regard  to  Elizabeth, 
and  there  were  some  instances,  it  was  said,  of  light 
and  trifling  behavior  between  Elizabeth  and  Seymour, 
while  she  was  in  his  house  during  the  life-time  of 
his    wife.     They   took   place   in   the  presence   of  Sey- 


44  QUEEN   ELIZABETH  [1548 

mour's  wife,  and  seem  of  no  consequence,  except  to 
show  that  dukes  and  princesses  got  into  frolics  some- 
times in  those  days  as  well  as  other  mortals.  People 
censured  Mrs.  Ashley  for  not  enjoining  a  greater  dig- 
nity and  propriety  of  demeanor  in  her  young  charge, 
and  the  government  removed  her  from  her  place. 

Lady  Tyrwhitt,  who  was  the  wife  of  the  messenger 
referred  to  above  that  was  sent  to  examine  Elizabeth, 
was  appointed  to  succeed  Mrs.  Ashley.  Elizabeth  was 
very  much  displeased  at  this  change.  She  told  Lady 
Tyrwhitt  that  Mrs.  Ashley  was  her  mistress,  and  that 
she  had  not  done  any  thing  to  make  it  necessary  for 
the  council  to  put  more  mistresses  over  her.  Sir 
Robert  wrote  to  the  protector  that  she  took  the  affair 
so  heavily  that  she  "wept  all  night,  and  lowered  all 
the  next  day."  He  said  that  her  attachment  to  Mrs. 
Ashley  was  very  strong;  and  that,  if  any  thing  were 
said  against  the  lord  admiral,  she  could  not  bear  to 
hear  it,  but  took  up  his  defense  in  the  most  prompt 
and  eager  manner. 

How  far  it  is  true  that  Elizabeth  loved  the  unfor- 
tunate Seymour  can  now  never  be  known.  There  is 
no  doubt,  however,  but  that  this  whole  affair  was  a 
very  severe  trial  and  affliction  to  her.  It  came  upon 
her  when  she  was  but  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  when  she  was  in  a  position,  as  well  of  an  age, 
which  renders  the  heart  acutely  sensitive  both  to  the 
effect  of  kindness   and    of  injuries.     Seymour,  by  his 


1548]   CHILDHOOD  OF  A  PRINCESS     45 

death,  was  lost  to  her  forever,  and  Elizabeth  lived  in 
great  retirement  and  seclusion  during  the  remainder 
of  her  brother's  reign.  She  did  not,  however,  forget 
Mrs.  Ashley  and  Parry.  On  her  accession  to  the 
throne,  many  years  afterward,  she  gave  them  offices 
very  valuable,  considering  their  station  in  life,  and 
was  a  true  friend  to  them  both  to  the  end  of  their 
days. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Lady  Jane  Grey, 

I,ady  Jane  Grey.—  Her  disposition  and  character. —  I,ady  Jane's  parents.—  Re- 
straints put  upon  her. —  Lady  Jane's  attainments. —  Character  of  her 
teacher. —  Anecdote  of  Elizabeth  and  Aylmer.—  ]_ady  Jane's  attachment 
to  Aylmer. —  Elizabeth's  studies. — Roger  Ascham. —  Lady  Jane's  acquire- 
ments in  Greek. —  Her  interview  with  Ascham. —  Lady  Jane's  intimacy 
with  Edward  —  The  Earl  of  Northumberland.—  Harsh  treatment  of 
Mary.— Decline  of  Edward's  health.— Uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  suc- 
cession.—  Struggle  for  power. —  Queen  Elizabeth's  family  connections. — 
Explanation  of  the  table. —  King  Henry's  will. —  Various  claimants  for 
the  throne. —  Perplexing  questions. —  Power  of  Northumberland. —  His 
schemes. —  Marriage  of  Lady  Jane.— Feelings  of  the  people. —  Efforts 
to  set  Mary  aside. —  Northumberland  works  on  the  young  king.-^ 
Conduct  of  the  judges. —  Pardon  by  anticipation. —  Edward's  deed  of 
settlement. —  Plan  to  entrap  the  princesses. —  Death  of  Edwara. —  Es- 
cape of  the  princesses.—  Precautions  of  Mary. — Lady  Jane  proclaimed 
queen. —  Great  excitement. —  Public  opinion  in  favor  of  Mary. —  North- 
umberland taken  prisoner. —  He  is  beheaded. —  Mary's  triumphal  pro-a 
cession. —  Shared  by  Elizabeth. 

AMONG  Elizabeth's  companions  and  playmates  in 
her  early  years  was  a  young  lady,  her  cousin,  as 
she  was  often  called,  though  she  was  really  the 
daughter  of  her  cousin,  named  Jane  Grey,  commonly 
called  in  history  Lady  Jane  Grey.  Her  mother  was  the 
Marchioness  of  Dorset,  and  was  the  daughter  of  one 
of  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  sisters.  King  Henry  had 
named  her  as  the  next  in  the  order  of  succession 
after  his  own  children,  that  is,  after  Edward  his  son, 
f  46) 


1550]  LADY  JANE  GREY  47 

and  Mary  and  Elizabeth  his  two  daughters;  and,  con- 
sequently, though  she  was  very  young,  yet,  as  she 
might  one  day  be  queen  of  England,  she  was  a  per- 
sonage of  considerable  importance.  She  was,  accord- 
ingly, kept  near  the  court,  and  shared,  in  some  re- 
spects, the  education  and  the  studies  of  the  two  prin- 
cesses. 

Lady  Jane  was  about  four  years  younger  than  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  and  the  sweetness  of  her  disposi- 
tion, united  with  an  extraordinary  intellectual  superi- 
ority, which  showed  itself  at  a  very  early  period, 
made  her  a  universal  favorite.  Her  father  and  mother, 
the  Marquis  and  Marchioness  of  Dorset,  lived  at  an 
estate  they  possessed,  called  Broadgate,  in  Leicester- 
shire, which  is  in  the  central  part  of  England,  although 
they  took  their  title  from  the  county  of  Dorset,  which 
is  on  the  southwestern  coast.  They  were  very  proud 
of  their  daughter,  and  attached  infinite  importance  to 
her  descent  from  Henry  VII.,  and  to  the  possibility 
that  she  might  one  day  succeed  to  the  English  throne. 
They  were  very  strict  and  severe  in  their  manners, 
and  paid  great  attention  to  etiquette  and  punctilio,  as 
persons  who  are  ambitious  of  rising  in  the  world  are 
very  apt  to  do.  In  all  ages  of  the  world,  and  among 
all  nations,  those  who  have  long  been  accustomed  to 
a  high  position  are  easy  and  unconstrained  in  their 
manners  and  demeanor,  while  those  who  have  been 
newly    advanced   from   a   lower   station,    or   who    are 


48  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1550 

anticipating  or  aspiring  to  such  an  advance,  make  them- 
selves slaves  to  the  rules  of  etiquette  and  ceremony. 
It  was  thus  that  the  father  and  mother  of  Lady  Jane, 
anticipating  that  she  might  one  day  become  a  queen, 
watched  and  guarded  her  incessantly,  subjected  her 
to  a  thousand  unwelcome  restraints,  and  repressed 
all  the  spontaneous  and  natural  gayety  and  sprightli- 
ness  which  belongs  properly  to  such  a  child. 

She  became,  however,  a  very  excellent  scholar  in 
consequence  of  this  state  of  things.  She  had  a  pri- 
vate teacher,  a  man  of  great  eminence  for  his  learn- 
ing and  abilities,  and  yet  of  a  very  kind  and  gentle 
spirit,  which  enabled  him  to  gain  a  strong  hold  on 
his  pupil's  affection  and  regard.  His  name  was  John 
Aylmer.  The  Marquis  of  Dorset,  Lady  Jane's  father, 
became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Aylmer  when  he  was 
quite  young,  and  appointed  him,  when  he  had  fin- 
ished his  education,  to  come  and  reside  in  his  family 
as  chaplain  and  tutor  to  his  children.  Aylmer  after- 
ward became  a  distinguished  man,  was  made  Bishop 
of  London,  and  held  many  high  offices  of  state  under 
Queen  Elizabeth,  when  she  came  to  reign.  He  be- 
came very  much  attached  to  Queen  EHzabeth  in  the 
middle  and  latter  part  of  his  life,  as  he  had  been  to 
Lady  Jane  in  the  early  part  of  it.  A  curious  incident 
occurred  during  the  time  that  he  was  in  the  service 
of  Elizabeth,  which  illustrates  the  character  of  the 
man.     The   queen  was   suffering  from   the  toothache, 


1550]  LADY  JANE  GREY  49 

and  it  was  necessary  that  the  tooth  should  be  ex- 
tracted. The  surgeon  was  ready  with  his  instruments, 
and  several  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  royal  house- 
hold were  in  the  queen's  room  commiserating  her 
sufferings;  but  the  queen  dreaded  the  operation  so 
excessively  that  she  could  not  summon  fortitude 
enough  to  submit  to  it.  Aylmer,  after  trying  some 
time  in  vain  to  encourage  her,  took  his  seat  in  the 
chair  instead  of  her,  and  said  to  the  surgeon,  "I  am 
an  old  man,  and  have  but  a  few  teeth  to  lose;  but 
come,  draw  this  one,  and  let  her  majesty  see  how 
light  a  matter  it  is."  One  would  not  have  supposed 
that  Elizabeth,  would  have  allowed  this  to  be  done;  but 
she  did,  and,  finding  that  Aylmer  made  so  light  of  the 
operation,  she  submitted  to  have  it  performed  upon 
herself. 

But  to  return  to  Lady  Jane.  She  was  very  strongly 
attached  to  her  teacher,  and  made  great  progress  in 
the  studies  which  he  arranged  for  her.  Ladies  of 
high  rank,  in  those  days,  were  accustomed  to  devote 
great  attention  to  the  ancient  and  modern  languages. 
There  was,  in  fact,  a  great  necessity  then,  as  indeed 
there  is  now,  for  a  European  princess  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  principal  languages  of  Europe;  for 
the  various  royal  families  were  continually  intermarry- 
ing with  each  other,  which  led  to  a  great  many  visits, 
and  other  intercourse  between  the  different  courts. 
There  was   also  a  great   deal    of  intercourse  with  the 

M    ofH.— 16— 4 


50  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1550 

pope,  in  which  the  Latin  language  was  the  medium 
of  communication.  Lady  Jane  devoted  a  great  deal 
of  time  to  all  these  studies,  and  made  rapid  pro- 
ficiency in  them  ail. 

The  Princess  Elizabeth  was  also  an  excellent  scholar. 
Her  teacher  was  a  very  learned  and  celebrated  man, 
named  Roger  Ascham.  She  spoke  French  and  Italian 
as  fluently  as  she  did  English.  She  also  wrote  and 
spoke  Latin  with  correctness  and  readiness.  She  made 
considerable  progress  in  Greek  too.  She  could  write 
the  Greek  character  very  beautifully,  and  could  ex- 
press herself  tolerably  well  in  conversation  in  that  lan- 
guage. One  of  her  companions,  a  young  lady  of  the 
name  of  Cecil,  is  said  to  have  spoken  Greek  as  well 
as  English.  Roger  Ascham  took  great  interest  in  ad- 
vancing the  princess  in  these  studies,  and  in  the  course 
of  these  his  instructions  he  became  acquainted  with 
Lady  Jane,  and  he  praises  very  highly,  in  his  letters, 
the  industry  and  assiduity  of  Lady  Jane  in  similar 
pursuits. 

One  day  Roger  Ascham,  being  on  a  journey  from 
the  north  of  England  to  London,  stopped  to  make  a 
call  at  the  mansion  of  the  Marquis  of  Dorset.  He 
found  that  the  family  were  all  away;  they  had  gone 
off  upon  a  hunting  excursion  in  the  park.  Lady  Jane, 
however,  had  been  left  at  home,  and  Ascham  went  in 
to  see  her.  He  found  her  in  the  library  reading  Greek. 
Ascham   examined    her  a   little,  and   was   very    much 


1550]  LADY  JANE  GREY  51 

surprised  to  find  how  well  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage she  had  become,  although  she  was  then  only 
about  fifteen  years  old.  He  told  her  that  he  should 
like  very  much  to  have  her  write  him  a  letter  in  Greek, 
and  this  she  readily  promised  to  do.  He  asked  her, 
also,  how  it  happened  that,  at  her  age,  she  had  made 
such  advances  in  learning.  "  I  will  tell  you,"  said  she, 
"  how  it  has  happened.  One  of  the  greatest  benefits 
that  God  ever  conferred  upon  me  was  in  giving  me 
so  sharp  and  severe  parents  and  so  gentle  a  teacher; 
for,  when  I  am  in  the  presence  of  either  my  father  or 
mother,  whether  I  speak,  keep  silence,  sit,  stand,  or 
go;  eat,  drink,  be  merry  or  sad;  be  sewing,  playing, 
dancing,  or  doing  any  thing  else,  I  must  do  it,  as  it 
were,  in  just  such  weight,  measure,  and  number,  as 
perfectly  as  possible,  or  else  I  am  so  sharply  taunted, 
so  cruelly  threatened,  yea,  presently,  sometimes  with 
pinches,  nips,  and  bobs,  and  other  ways,  which  I  will 
not  name  for  the  honor  I  bear  my  parents,  that  I  am 
continually  teased  and  tormented.  And  then,  when 
the  time  comes  for  me  to  go  to  Mr.  Elsmer,  he  teaches 
me  so  gently,  so  pleasantly,  and  with  such  fair  allure- 
ments to  learning,  that  I  think  all  the  time  nothing 
while  I  am  with  him;  and  1  am  always  sorry  to  go 
away  from  him,  because  whatsoever  else  I  do  but 
learning  is  full  of  grief,  trouble,  fear,  and  suffering." 

Lady  Jane  Grey  was  an    intimate  friend   and  com- 
panion   of   the   young    King    Edward    as    long   as    he 


52  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1550 

lived.  Edward  died  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age,  so  that  he  did  not  reach  the  period  which  his 
father  had  assigned  for  his  reigning  in  his  own  name. 
One  of  King  Edward's  most  prominent  and  powerful 
ministers  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life  was  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland.  The  original  name  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  was  John  Dudley.  He  was  one  of 
the  train  who  came  in  the  procession  at  the  close  of 
the  baptism  of  Elizabeth,  carrying  the  presents.  He 
was  a  Protestant,  and  was  very  friendly  to  Edward 
and  to  Lady  Jane  Grey,  for  they  were  Protestants  too. 
But  his  feelings  and  policy  were  hostile  to  Mary,  for 
she  was  a  Catholic.  Mary  was  sometimes  treated  very 
harshly  by  him,  and  she  was  subjected  to  many  pri- 
vations and  hardships  on  account  of  her  religious 
faith.  The  government  of  Edward  justified  these 
measures,  on  account  of  the  necessity  of  promoting 
the  Reformation,  and  discouraging  popery  by  every 
means  in  their  power.  Northumberland  supposed, 
too,  that  it  was  safe  to  do  this,  for  Edward  being 
very  young,  it  was  probable  that  he  would  live  and 
reign  a  long  time.  It  is  true  that  Mary  was  named, 
in  her  father's  will,  as  his  successor,  if  she  outlived 
him,  but  then  it  was  highly  probable  that  she  would 
not  outlive  him,  for  she  was  several  years  older  than  he. 
All  these  calculations,  however,  were  spoiled  by 
the  sudden  failure  of  Edward's  health  when  he  was 
sixteen  years  old.     Northumberland  was  much  alarmed 


1550]  LADY  JANE  GREY  s3 

at  this.  He  knew  at  once  that  if  Edward  should  die, 
and  Mary  succeed  him,  a!!  his  power  would  be  gone, 
and  he  determined  to  make  desperate  efforts  to  pre- 
vent such  a  result. 

It  must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  in  com- 
ing to  this  resolution,  Northumberland  considered 
himself  as  intending  and  planning  a  deliberate  usur- 
pation of  power.  There  was  a  real  uncertainty  in  re- 
spect to  the  question  who  was  the  true  and  rightful 
heir  to  the  crown.  Northumberland,  was,  undoubt- 
edly, strongly  biased  by  his  interest,  but  he  may 
have  been  unconscious  of  the  bias,  and  in  advoca- 
ting the  mode  of  succession  on  which  the  continuance 
of  his  own  power  depended,  he  may  have  really  be- 
lieved that  he  was  only  maintaining  what  was  in  it- 
self rightful  and  just. 

In  fact,  there  is  no  mode  which  human  ingenuity 
has  ever  yet  devised  for  determining  the  hands  in 
which  the  supreme  executive  of  a  nation  shall  be 
lodged,  which  will  always  avoid  doubt  and  conten- 
tion. If  this  power  devolves  by  hereditary  descent, 
no  rules  can  be  made  so  minute  and  full  as  that  cases 
will  not  sometimes  occur  that  will  transcend  them. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  plan  of  election  be  adopted, 
there  will  often  be  technical  doubts  about  a  portion 
of  the  votes,  and  cases  will  sometimes  occur  where 
the  result  will  depend  upon  this  doubtful  portion. 
Thus   there   will  be   disputes    under  anv    system,  and 


54  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1550 

ambitious  men  will  seize  sucli  occasions  to  struggle 
for  power. 

In  order  tliat  our  readers  may  clearly  understand 
the  nature  of  the  plan  which  Northumberland  adopted, 
we  present,  on  the  following  page,  a  sort  of  genea- 
logical table  of  the  royal  family  of  England  in  the 
days  of  Elizabeth. 

By  examination  of  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that 
King  Henry  VII.  left  a  son  and  two  daughters.  The 
son  was  King  Henry  Vlll.,  and  he  had  three  children. 
His  third  child  was  King  Edward  VI.,  who  was  now 
about  to  die.  The  other  two  were  the  Princesses 
Mary  and  Elizabeth,  who  would  naturally  be  consid- 
ered the  next  heirs  after  Edward;  and  besides,  King 
Henry  had  left  a  will,  as  has  been  already  explained, 
confirming  their  rights  to  the  succession.  This  will 
he  had  made  near  the  time  of  his  death;  but  it  will 
be  recollected  that,  during  his  life-time,  both  the  mar- 
riages from  which  these  princesses  had  sprung  had 
been  formally  annulled.  His  marriage  with  Catharine 
of  Aragon  had  been  annulled  on  one  plea,  and  that 
of  Anne  Boleyn  on  another.  Both  these  decrees  of 
annulment  had  afterward  been  revoked,  and  the  right 
of  the  princesses  to  succeed  had  been  restored,  or 
attempted  to  be  restored,  by  the  will.  Still,  it  ad- 
mitted of  a  question,  after  all,  whether  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  were  to  be  considered  as  the  children  of 
true  and  lawful  wives  or  not. 


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56  QUEEN   ELIZABETH  [1550 

If  they  were  not,  then  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  the 
next  heir,  for  she  was  placed  next  to  the  princesses 
by  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  will.  This  will,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  set  aside  all  the  descendants  of  Mar- 
garet, who  went  to  Scotland  as  the  wife  of  James  IV. 
of  that  country.  What  right  the  king  had  thus  to 
disinherit  the  children  of  his  sister  Margaret  was  a 
great  question.  Among  her  descendants  was  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  table,  and 
she  was  at  this  time,  the  representative  of  that  branch 
of  the  family.  The  friends  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
claimed  that  she  was  the  lawful  heir  to  the  English 
throne  after  Edward.  They  maintained  that  the  mar- 
riage of  Catharine,  the  Princess  Mary's  mother,  and 
also  that  of  Anne  Boleyn,  Elizabeth's  mother,  had 
both  been  annulled,  and  that  the  will  could  not  re- 
store them.  They  maintained,  also,  that  the  will  was 
equally  povv'erless  in  setting  aside  the  claims  of  Mar- 
garet, her  grandmother.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  though 
silent  now,  advanced  her  claim  subsequently,  and 
made  Elizabeth  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

Then  there  was,  besides  these,  a  third  party,  who 
maintained  that  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  will  was 
not  effectual  in  legalizing  again  the  annulled  mar- 
riages, but  that  it  was  sufficient  to  set  aside  the 
claims  of  Margaret.  Of  course,  with  them.  Lady  Jane 
Grey,  who,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  table,  was  the 
representative    of   the    second    sister   of  Henry    Vlll., 


1553]  LADY  JANE  GREY  57 

was  the  only  heir.  The  Earl  of  Northumberland  em- 
braced this  view.  His  motive  was  to  raise  Lady 
Jane  Grey  to  the  throne,  in  order  to  exclude  the 
Princess  Mary,  whose  accession  he  knew  very  well 
would  bring  all  his  greatness  to  a  very  sudden  end. 

The  Earl  of  Northumberland  was  at  this  time  the 
principal  minister  of  the  young  king.  The  protector 
Somerset  had  fallen  long  ago.  Northumberland,  whose 
name  was  then  John  Dudley,  had  supplanted  him, 
and  had  acquired  so  great  influence  and  power  at 
court  that  almost  every  thing  seemed  to  be  at  his 
disposal.  He  was,  however,  generally  hated  by  the 
other  courtiers  and  by  the  nation.  Men  who  gain 
the  confidence  of  a  young  or  feeble-minded  prince,  so 
as  to  wield  a  great  power  not  properly  their  own,  are 
almost  always  odious.  It  was  expected,  however, 
that  his  career  would  be  soon  brought  to  an  end,  as 
all  knew  that  King  Edward  must  die,  and  it  was 
generally  understood  that  Mary  was   to    succeed  him. 

Northumberland,  hov/ever,  was  very  anxious  to 
devise  some  scheme  to  continue  his  power,  and  in 
revolving  the  subject  in  his  mind,  he  conceived  of 
plans  which  seemed  to  promise  not  only  to  con- 
tinue, but  also  greatly  to  Increase  it.  His  scheme 
was  to  have  the  princesses'  claims  set  aside,  and  Lady 
Jane  Grey  raised  to  the  throne.  He  had  several  sons. 
One  of  them  was  young,  handsome,  and  accomplished. 
He   thought  of  proposing   him   to    Lady  Jane's  father 


58  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

as  the  husband  of  Lady  Jane,  and,  to  induce  the 
marquis  to  consent  to  this  plan,  he  promised  to  ob- 
tain a  dukedom  for  him  by  means  of  his  influence 
with  the  king.  The  marquis  agreed  to  the  proposal. 
Lady  Jane  did  not  object  to  the  husband  they  offered 
her.  The  dukedom  was  obtained,  and  the  marriage, 
together  with  two  others  which  Northumberland  had 
arranged  to  strengthen  his  influence,  were  celebrated, 
all  on  the  same  day,  with  great  festivities  and  rejoic- 
ings. The  people  looked  on  moodily,  jealous  and 
displeased,  though  they  had  no  open  ground  of  dis- 
pleasure, except  that  it  was  unsuitable  to  have  such 
scenes  of  gayety  and  rejoicing  among  the  high  offi- 
cers of  the  court  while  the  young  monarch  himself 
was  lying  upon  his  dying  bed.  They  did  not  yet 
know  that  it  was  Northumberland's  plan  to  raise  his 
new  daughter- in-law  to  the  throne. 

Northumberland  thought  it  would  greatly  increase 
his  prospect  of  success  if  he  could  obtain  some 
act  of  acknowledgement  of  Lady  Jane's  claims  to  the 
crown  before  Edward  died.  An  opportunity  soon  oc- 
curred for  effecting  this  purpose.  One  day,  as  he 
was  sitting  by  young  Edward's  bedside,  he  turned 
the  conversation  to  the  subject  of  the  Reformation, 
which  had  made  great  progress  during  Edward's  reign, 
and  he  led  Edward  on  in  the  conversation,  until  he 
remarked  that  it  was  a  great  pity  to  have  the  work 
all  undone  by  Mary's  accession,  for  she  was  a  Catho- 


1553]  LADY  JANE  GREY  59 

lie-,  and  would,  of  course,  endeavor  to  bring  the 
country  back  again  under  the  spiritual  dominion  of 
Rome.  Northumberland  then  told  him  that  there  was 
one  way,  and  one  way  only,  to  avert  such  a  ca- 
lamity, and  that  was  to  make  Lady  Jane  his  heir 
instead  of  Mary. 

King  Edward  was  a  very  thoughtful,  considerate, 
and  conscientious  boy,  and  was  very  desirous  of  do- 
ing what  he  considered  his  duty.  He  thought  it  was 
his  duty  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  sustain  the  Refor- 
mation, and  to  prevent  the  Catholic  power  from  gain- 
ing ascendency  in  England  again.  He  was,  therefore, 
easily  persuaded  to  accede  to  Northumberland's  plan, 
especially  as  he  was  himself  strongly  attached  to 
Lady  Jane,  who  had  often  been  his  playmate  and 
companion. 

The  king  accordingly  sent  for  three  judges  of  the 
realm,  and  directed  them  to  draw  up  a  deed  of  as- 
signment, by  which  the  crown  was  to  be  conveyed 
to  Lady  Jane  on  the  young  king's  death,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  being  alike  excluded.  The  judges  were  afraid 
to  do  this;  for,  by  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  settle- 
ment of  the  crown,  all  those  persons  who  should  do 
any  thing  to  disturb  the  succession  as  he  arranged  it 
were  declared  to  be  guilty  of  high  treason.  The 
judges  knew  very  well,  therefore,  that  if  they  should 
do  what  the  king  required  of  them,  and  then,  if  the 
friends   of    Lady   Jane    should    fail  of  establishing   her 


6o  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

upon  the  throne,  the  end  of  the  affair  would  be  the 
cutting  off  of  their  own  heads  in  the  Tower.  They  rep- 
resented this  to  the  king,  and  begged  to  be  excused 
from  the  duty  that  he  required  of  them.  Northumber- 
land was  in  a  great  rage  at  this,  and  seemed  almost 
ready  to  break  out  against  the  judges  in  open  vio- 
lence. They,  however,  persisted  in  their  refusal  to  do 
what  they  well  knew  would  subject  them  to  the  pains 
and  penalties  of  treason. 

Northumberland,  finding  that  threats  and  violence 
would  not  succeed,  contrived  another  mode  of  obvi- 
ating the  difficulty.  He  proposed  to  protect  the 
judges  from  any  possible  evil  consequences  of  their 
act  by  a  formal  pardon  for  it,  signed  by  the  king,  and 
sealed  with  the  great  seal,  so  that,  in  case  they  were 
ever  charged  with  treason,  the  pardon  would  save 
them  from  punishment.  This  plan  succeeded.  The 
pardon  was  made  out,  being  written  with  great  for- 
mality upon  a  parchment  roll,  and  sealed  with  the  great 
seal.  The  judges  then  prepared  and  signed  the  deed 
of  settlement  by  which  the  crown  was  given  to  Lady 
Jane,  though,  after  all,  they  did  it  with  much  reluc- 
tance and  many  forebodings. 

Northumberland  next  wanted  to  contrive  some 
plan  for  getting  the  princesses  into  his  power,  in  or- 
der to  prevent  their  heading  any  movement  in  behalf 
of  their  own  claims  at  the  death  of  the  king.  He 
was  also  desirous  of  making  such  arrangements  as  to 


1553]  LADY  JANE  GREY  6i 

conceal  the  death  of  the  king  for  a  few  days  after  it 
should  take  place,  in  order  that  he  might  get  Lady 
Jane  and  her  officers  in  complete  possession  of  the 
kingdom  before  the  demise  of  the  crown  should  be 
generally  known.  For  this  purpose  he  dismissed  the 
regular  physicians  who  had  attended  upon  the  king, 
and  put  him  under  the  charge  of  a  woman,  who  pre- 
tended that  she  had  a  medicine  that  would  certainly 
cure  him.  He  sent,  also,  messengers  to  the  princesses, 
who  were  then  in  the  country  north  of  London,  re- 
questing that  they  would  come  to  Greenwich,  to  be 
near  the  sick  chamber  where  their  brother  was  lying, 
that  they  might  cheer  and  comfort  him  in  his  sick- 
ness and  pain. 

The  princesses  obeyed  the  summons.  They  each 
set  out  immediately  on  the  journey,  and  moved  to- 
ward London  on  their  way  to  Greenwich.  In  the 
mean  time  Edward  was  rapidly  declining.  The  change 
in  the  treatment  which  took  place  when  his  physi- 
cians left  him,  made  him  worse  instead  of  better.  His 
cough  increased,  his  breathing  became  more  labored 
and  difficult;  in  a  word,  his  case  presented  all  the 
symptoms  of  approaching  dissolution.  At  length  he 
died.  Northumberland  attempted  to  keep  the  fact 
concealed  until  after  the  princesses  should  arrive,  that 
he  might  get  them  into  his  power.  Some  faithful 
friend,  however,  made  all  haste  to  meet  them,  in  order 
to    inform   them   what   was   going   on.     In    this   wav 


62  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

Mary  received  intelligence  of  her  brother's  death  when 
she  had  almost  reached  London,  and  was  informed, 
also,  of  the  plans  of  Northumberland  for  raising  Lady 
Jane  to  the  throne.  The  two  princesses  were  ex- 
tremely alarmed,  and  both  turned  back  at  once  to- 
ward the  northward  again,  Mary  stopped  to  write  a 
letter  to  the  council,  remonstrating  against  their  delay 
in  proclaiming  her  queen,  and  then  proceeded  rapidly 
to  a  strong  castle  at  a  place  called  Framlingham,  in 
the  county  of  Suffolk,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Eng- 
land. She  made  this  her  head-quarters,  because  she 
supposed  that  the  people  of  that  county  were  particu- 
larly friendly  to  her;  and  then,  besides,  it  was  near 
the  sea,  and,  in  case  the  course  of  events  should  turn 
against  her,  she  could  make  her  escape  to  foreign 
lands.  It  is  true  that  the  prospect  of  being  a  fugitive 
and  an  exile  was  very  dark  and  gloomy,  but  it  was 
not  so  terrible  as  the  idea  of  being  shut  up  a  prisoner 
in  the  Tower,  or  being  beheaded  on  the  block  for 
treason. 

In  the  mean  time,  Northumberland  went,  at  the 
head  of  a  troop  of  his  adherents,  to  the  residence 
of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  informed  her  of  the  death  of 
Edward,  and  announced  to  her  their  determination  to 
proclaim  her  queen.  Lady  Jane  was  very  much  as- 
tonished at  this  news.  At  first  she  absolutely  refused 
the  offered  honor;  but  the  solicitations  and  urgency 
of  Northumberland,  and  of  her  father  and  her  young 


1553]  LADY  JANE  GREY  e>2 

husband,  -at  length  prevailed.  She  was  conducted  to 
London,  and  instated  in  at  least  the  semblance  of 
power. 

As  the  news  of  these  transactions  spread  through- 
out the  land,  a  universal  and  strong  excitement  was 
produced,  everybody  at  once  taking  sides  either  for 
Mary  or  Lady  Jane.  Bands  of  armed  men  began  to 
assemble.  It  soon  became  apparent,  however,  that, 
beyond  the  immediate  precincts  of  London,  the  coun- 
try was  almost  unanimous  for  Mary.  They  dreaded, 
it  is  true,  the  danger  which  they  anticipated  from 
her  Catholic  faith,  but  still  they  had  all  considered  it 
a  settled  point,  since  the  death  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
that  Mary  was  to  reign  whenever  Edward  should 
die;  and  this  general  expectation  that  she  would  be 
queen  had  passed  insensibly  into  an  opinion  that  she 
ought  to  be.  Considered  strictly  as  a  legal  question, 
it  was  certainly  doubtful  which  of  the  four  claimants 
to  the  throne  had  the  strongest  title;  but  the  public 
were  not  disposed  so  to  regard  it.  They  chose,  on 
the  whole,  that  Mary  should  reign.  Large  military 
masses  consequently  flocked  to  her  standard.  Eliza- 
beth took  sides  with  her,  and  as  it  was  important  to 
give  as  much  public  effect  to  her  adhesion  as  possi- 
ble, they  furnished  Elizabeth  with  a  troop  of  a  thou- 
sand horsemen,  at  the  head  of  which  she  rode  to 
meet  Mary  and  tender  her  aid. 


64  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

Northumberland  went  forth  at  the  head  of  such 
forces  as  he  could  collect,  but  he  soon  found  that 
the  attempt  was  vain.  His  troops  forsook  him.  The 
castles  which  had  at  first  been  under  his  command 
surrendered  themselves  to  Mary.  The  Tower  of  Lon- 
don went  over  to  her  side.  Finally,  all  being  lost, 
Northumberland  himself  was  taken  prisoner,  and  all 
his  influential  friends  with  him,  and  they  were  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower.  Lady  Jane  herself,  too,  together 
with  her  husband  and  father,  were  seized  and  sent 
to  prison. 

Northumberland  was  immediately  put  upon  his 
trial  for  treason.  He  was  condemned,  and  brought 
at  once  to  the  block.  In  fact,  the  whole  affair  moved 
very  promptly  and  rapidly  on,  from  its  commence- 
ment to  its  consummation.  Edward  the  Sixth  died 
on  the  5th  of  July,  and  it  was  only  the  226.  of  Au- 
gust when  Northumberland  was  beheaded.  The  period 
for  which  the  unhappy  Lady  Jane  enjoyed  the  honor 
of  being  called  a  queen  was  nine  days. 

It  was  about  a  month  after  this  that  Mary  passed 
from  the  Tower  through  the  city  of  London  in  a 
grand  triumphal  procession  to  be  crowned.  The 
royal  chariot,  covered  with  cloth  of  golden  tissue,  was 
drawn  by  six  horses  most  splendidly  caparisoned. 
Elizabeth,  who  had  aided  her  sister,  so  far  as  she 
could,  in  the  struggle,  was  admitted  to  share  the  tri- 


I553J  LADY  JANE  GREY  6s 

umph.  She  had  a  carriage  drawn  by  six  horses  too, 
with  cloth  and  decorations  of  silver.  They  proceeded 
in  this  manner,  attended  and  followed  by  a  great 
cavalcade  of  nobles  and  soldiery,  to  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  Mary  took  her  seat  with  great  formality 
upon  her  father's  throne. 


M.  ox  H.— 16--» 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Spanish  Match. 

Queen  Mary's  character.—  Bigotry. —  Bigotry  and  firmness. —  Suitors  for  Queen 
Mary's  hand. —  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth. —  Character  of  his  son 
Philip. —  The  emperor  proposes  his  sou. —  Mary  pleased  vrith  the  proposal. 
—  Plans  of  the  ministers. —  The  people  alarmed. —  Oppo.sition  to  the 
match. —  The  emperor  furnishes  money. —  The  emperor's  embassy. — 
Treaty  of  marriage.— Stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  marriage. —  Wyatt's 
rebellion. —  Duke  of  Suffolk. —  Wyatt  advances  toward  London.— The 
queen  retreats  into  the  city.— Wyatt  surrenders.— The  Duke  of  Suffolk 
sent  to  the  Tower. —  Beheading  of  Lady  Jane  Grey.—  Her  heroic  forti- 
tude.—  Death  of  Suffolk. —  Imprisonment  of  Elizabeth. —  Execution  of 
Wyatt. —  The  wedding  plan  proceeds.  —  Hostility  of  the  sailors. — Mary's 
fears  and  complainings. —  Philip  lands  at  Southampton. — Philip's  proud 
and  haughty  demeanor. —  The  marriage  ceremony. —  Philip  abandons 
Mary. —  Her  repinings. —  Her  death. 

WHEN  Queen  Mary  ascended  the  throne,  she 
was  a  maiden  lady  not  far  from  thirty- 
five  years  of  age  She  was  cold,  austere, 
and  forbidding  in  her  appearance  and  manners,  though 
probably  conscientious  and  honest  in  her  convictions 
of  duty.  She  was  a  very  firm  and  decided  Catholic, 
or,  rather,  she  evinced  a  certain  strict  adherence  to 
the  principles  of  her  religious  faith,  which  we  gener- 
ally call  firmness  when  it  is  exhibited  by  those  whose 
opinions  agree  with  our  own,  though  we  are  very 
apt  to  name  it  bigotry  in  those  who  differ  from  us. 
For  instance,  v.'hen  the  body  of  young  Edward,  he 
brother,  after   his   death,  was   to   be  deposited  in  th 


i55jJ         THF:  SPANISH   MATCH  67 

last  home  of  the  English  kings  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
which  is  a  very  magnificent  cathedral  a  little  way  up 
the  river  from  London,  the  services  were,  of  course, 
conducted  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  English 
Church,  which  was  then  Protestant.  Mary,  however, 
could  not  conscientiously  countenance  such  services 
even  by  being  present  at  them.  She  accordingly  as- 
sembled her  immediate  attendants  and  personal  friends 
in  her  own  private  chapel,  and  celebrated  the  inter- 
ment there,  with  Catholic  priests,  by  a  service  con- 
formed to  the  Catholic  ritual.  Was  it  a  bigoted,  or 
only  a  firm  and  proper,  attachment  to  her  own  faith, 
which  forbade  her  joining  in  the  national  commemo- 
ration.? The  reader  must  decide;  but,  in  deciding,  he 
is  bound  to  render  the  same  verdict  that  he  would 
have  given  if  it  had  been  a  case  of  a  Protestant  with- 
drawing thus  from  Catholic  forms. 

At  all  events,  whether  bigoted  or  not,  Mary  was 
doubtless  sincere;  but  she  was  so  cold,  and  stern, 
and  austere  in  her  character,  that  she  was  very  little 
likely  to  be  loved.  There  were  a  great  many  persons 
who  wished  to  become  her  husband,  but  their  motives 
were  to  share  her  grandeur  and  power.  Among  these 
persons,  the  most  prominent  one,  and  the  one  appar- 
ently most  likely  to  succeed^  was  a  prince  of  Spain. 
His  name  was  Philip. 

It  was  his  father's  plan,  and  not  his  own,  that  he 
should  marry  Queen  Mary.     His  father  was  at  this  time 


68  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

the  most  wealthy  and  powerful  monarch  in  Europe. 
His  name  was  Charles.  He  is  commonly  called  in  his- 
tory Charles  V.  of  Spain.  He  was  not  only  King  of 
Spain,  but  Emperor  of  Germany.  He  resided  sometimes 
at  Madrid,  and  sometimes  at  Brussels  in  Flanders.  His 
son  Philip  had  been  married  to  a  Portuguese  princess, 
but  his  wife  had  died,  and  thus  Philip  was  a  widower. 
Still,  he  was  only  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  but  he 
was  as  stern,  severe,  and  repulsive  in  his  manners  as 
Mary.  His  personal  appearance,  too,  corresponded 
with  his  character.  He  was  a  very  decided  Catholic 
also,  and  in  his  natural  spirit,  haughty,  ambitious,  and 
domineering. 

The  Emperor  Charles,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  young 
Edward's  death  and  of  Mary's  accession  to  the  English 
throne,  conceived  the  plan  of  proposing  to  her  his  son 
Philip  for  a  husband.  He  sent  over  a  wise  and  saga- 
cious statesman  from  his  court  to  make  the  proposi- 
tion, and  to  urge  it  by  such  reasons  as  would  be  most 
likely  to  influence  Mary's  mind,  and  the  minds  of  the 
great  officers  of  her  government.  The  embassador 
managed  the  affair  well.  In  fact,  it  was  probably  easy 
to  manage  it.  Mary  would  naturally  be  pleased  with 
the  idea  of  such  a  young  husband,  who,  besides  being 
young  and  accomplished,  was  the  son  of  the  greatest 
potentate  in  Europe,  and  likely,  one  day,  to  take  his  fa- 
ther's place  on  that  lofty  elevation.  Besides,  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  who  had  rival  claims  to  Queen  Mary's 


1553]         THE  SPANISH  MATCH  69 

throne,  had  married,  or  was  about  to  marry,  the  son  of 
the  King  of  France,  and  there  was  a  little  glory  in  out- 
shining her,  by  having  for  a  husband  a  son  of  the 
King  of  Spain.  It  might,  however,  perhaps,  be  a  ques- 
tion which  was  the  greatest  match;  for,  though  the 
court  of  Paris  was  the  most  brilliant,  Spain,  being  at 
that  time  possessed  of  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  its 
American  colonies,  was  at  least  the  richest  country  in 
the  world. 

Mary's  ministers,  when  they  found  that  Mary  her- 
self liked  the  plan,  fell  in  with  it  too.  Mary  had  been 
beginning,  very  quietly  indeed,  but  very  efficiently,  her 
measures  for  bringing  back  the  English  government 
and  nation  to  the  Catholic  faith.  Her  ministers  told 
her  now,  however,  that  if  she  wished  to  succeed  in 
effecting  this  match,  she  must  suspend  all  these  plans 
until  the  match  was  consummated.  The  people  of  Eng- 
land were  generally  of  the  Protestant  faith.  They  had 
been  very  uneasy  and  restless  under  the  progress 
which  the  queen  had  been  making  in  silencing  Prot- 
estant preachers,  and  bringing  back  Catholic  rites  and 
ceremonies;  and  now,  if  they  found  that  their  queen 
was  going  to  marry  so  rigid  and  uncompromising  a 
Catholic  as  Philip  of  Spain,  they  would  be  doubly 
alarmed.  She  must  suspend,  therefore,  for  a  time,  her 
measures  for  restoring  papacy,  unless  she  was  willing 
to  give  up  her  husband.  The  queen  saw  that  this 
was  the  alternative,  and  she  decided  on  following  her 


70  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1553 

ministers'  advice.  She  did  all  in  her  power  to  quiet 
and  calm  the  public  mind,  in  order  to  prepare  the 
way  for  announcing  the  proposed  connection. 

Rumors,  however,  began  to  be  spread  abroad  that 
such  a  design  was  entertained  before  Mary  was  fully 
prepared  to  promulgate  it.  These  rumors  produced 
great  excitement,  and  awakened  strong  opposition. 
The  people  knew  Philip's  ambitious  and  overbearing 
character,  and  they  believed  that  if  he  were  to  come 
to  England  as  the  husband  of  the  queen,  the  whole 
government  would  pass  into  his  hands,  and,  as  he 
would  naturally  be  very  much  under  the  influence  of 
his  father,  the  connection  was  likely  to  result  in  mak- 
ing England  a  mere  appendage  to  the  already  vast 
dominions  of  the  emperor.  The  House  of  Commons 
appointed  a  committee  of  twenty  members,  and  sent 
them  to  the  queen,  with  a  humble  petition  that  she 
would  not  marry  a  foreigner.  The  queen  was  much 
displeased  at  receiving  such  a  petition,  and  she  dis- 
solved the  Parliament.  The  members  dispersed,  car- 
rying with  them  every  where  expressions  of  their  dis- 
satisfaction and  fear.  England,  they  said,  was  about 
to  become  a  province  of  Spain,  and  the  prospect  of 
such  a  consummation,  wherever  the  tidings  went, 
filled  the  people  of  the  country  with  great  alarm. 

Queen  Mary's  principal  minister  of  state  at  this 
time  was  a  crafty  politician,  whose  name  was  Gar- 
diner.    Gardiner  sent  word  to  the  emperor  that  there 


1554]         THE  SPANISH   MATCH  71 

was  great  opposition  to  his  son's  marriage  in  England, 
and  that  he  feared  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  ac- 
complish it,  unless  the  terms  of  the  contract  of  mar- 
riage were  made  very  favorable  to  the  queen  and  to 
England,  and  unless  the  emperor  could  furnish  him 
with  a  large  sum  of  money  to  use  as  a  means  of 
bringing  influential  persons  of  the  realm  to  favor  it. 
Charles  decided  to  send  the  money.  He  borrowed  it 
of  some  of  the  rich"  cities  of  Germany,  making  his  son 
Philip  give  his  bond  to  repay  it  as  soon  as  he  should 
get  possession  of  his  bride,  and  of  the  rich  and  pow- 
erful country  over  which  she  reigned.  The  amount 
thus  remitted  to  England  is  said  by  the  historians  of 
those  days  to  have  been  a  sum  equal  to  two  millions 
of  dollars.  The  bribery  was  certainly  on  a  very  re- 
spectable scale. 

The  emperor  also  sent  a  very  magnificent  embassy 
to  London,  with  a  distinguished  nobleman  at  its 
head,  to  arrange  the  terms  and  contracts  of  the  mar- 
riage. This  embassy  came  in  great  state,  and,  dur- 
ing their  residence  in  London,  were  the  objects  of 
great  attention  and  parade.  The  eclat  of  their  recep- 
tion, and  the  influence  of  the  bribes,  seemed  to  si- 
lence opposition  to  the  scheme.  Open  opposition 
ceased  to  be  expressed,  though  a  strong  and  inveter- 
ate determination  against  the  measure  was  secretly 
extending  itself  throughout  the  realm.  This,  how- 
ever,  did    not    prevent    the    negotiations    from    going 


72  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

on.  The  terms  were  probably  all  fully  understood 
and  agreed  upon  before  the  embassy  came,  so  that 
nothing  remained  but  the  formalities  of  writing  and 
signing  the  articles. 

Some  of  the  principal  stipulations  of  these  articles 
were,  that  Philip  was  to  have  the  title  of  King  of 
England  jointly  with  Mary's  title  of  queen.  Mary 
was  also  to  share  with  him,  in  the  same  way,  his 
titles  in  Spain.  It  was  agreed  that  Mary  should  have 
the  exclusive  power  of  the  appointment  of  officers  of 
government  in  England,  and  that  no  Spaniards  should 
be  eligible  at  all.  Particular  provisions  were  made 
in  respect  to  the  children  which  might  result  from 
the  marriage,  as  to  how  they  should  inherit  rights  of 
government  in  the  two  countries.  Philip  had  one 
son  already,  by  his  former  wife.  This  son  was  to 
succeed  his  father  in  the  kingdom  of  Spain,  but  the 
other  dominions  of  Philip  on  the  Continent  were  to 
descend  to  the  offspring  of  this  new  marriage,  in 
modes  minutely  specified  to  fit  all  possible  cases 
which  might  occur.  The  making  of  all  these  speci- 
fications, however,  turned  out  to  be  labor  lost,  as 
Mary  never  had  children. 

It  was  also  specially  agreed  that  Philip  should 
not  bring  Spanish  or  foreign  domestics  into  the 
realm,  to  give  uneasiness  to  the  English  people;  that 
he  would  never  take  the  queen  out  of  England,  nor 
carry  any  of  the  children   away,  without. the    consent 


1554]         THE  SPANISH   MATCH  73 

of  the  English  nobility;  and  that,  if  the  queen  were 
to  die  before  him,  all  his  rights  and  claims  of  every 
sort,  in  respect  to  England,  should  forever  cease.  He 
also  agreed  that  he  would  never  carry  away  any  of 
the  jewels  or  other  property  of  the  crown,  nor  suffer 
any  other  person  to  do  so. 

These  stipulations,  guarding  so  carefully  the  rights 
of  Mary  and  of  England,  were  intended  to  satisfy  the 
English  people,  and  remove  their  objections  to  the 
match.  They  produced  some  effect,  but  the  hostility 
was  too  deeply  seated  to  be  so  easily  allayed.  It 
grew,  on  the  contrary,  more  and  more  threatening, 
until  at  length  a  conspiracy  was  formed  by  a  number 
of  influential  and  powerful  men,  and  a  plan  of  open 
rebeUion  organized. 

The  leader  in  this  plan  was  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt, 
and  the  outbreak  which  followed  is  known  in  history 
as  Wyatt's  rebellion.  Another  of  the  leaders  was 
the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who,  it  will  be  recollected,  was 
the  father  of  Lady  Jane  Grey.  This  led  people  to 
suppose  that  the  plan  of  the  conspirators  was  not 
merely  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  the  Spanish 
match,  but  to  depose  Queen  Mary  entirely,  and  to 
raise  the  Lady  Jane  to  the  throne.  However  this  may 
be,  an  extensive  and  formidable  conspiracy  was 
formed.  There  were  to  have  been  several  risings  in 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom.  They  all  failed  ex- 
cept   the    one    which    Wyatt    himself  was    to    head, 


74  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

which  was  in  Kent,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
country.  This  succeeded  so  far,  at  least,  that  a  con- 
siderable force  was  collected,  and  began  to  advance 
toward  London  from  the  southern  side. 

Queen  Mary  was  very  much  alarmed.  She  had 
no  armed  force  in  readiness  to  encounter  this  danger. 
She  sent  messengers  across  the  Thames  and  down 
the  river  to  meet  Wyatt,  who  was  advancing  at  the 
head  of  four  thousand  men,  to  ask  what  it  was  that 
he  demanded.  He  replied  that  the  queen  must  be 
delivered  up  as  his  prisoner,  and  also  the  Tower  of 
London  be  surrendered  to  him.  This  showed  that 
his  plan  was  to  depose  the  queen.  Mary  rejected 
these  proposals  at  once,  and,  having  no  forces  to 
meet  this  new  enemy,  she  had  to  retreat  from  West- 
minster into  the  city  of  London,  and  here  she  took 
refuge  in  the  city  hall,  called  the  Guildhall,  and  put 
herself  under  the  protection  of  the  city  authorities. 
Some  of  her  friends  urged  her  to  take  shelter  in  the 
Tower;  but  she  had  more  confidence,  she  said,  in 
the  faithfulness  and  loyalty  of  her  subjects  than  in 
castle  walls. 

Wyatt  continued  to  advance.  He  was  still  upon  the 
south  side  of  the  river.  There  was  but  one  bridge 
across  the  Thames,  at  London,  in  those  days,  though 
there  are  half  a  dozen  now,  and  this  one  was  so 
strongly  barricaded  and  guarded  that  Wyatt  did  not 
dare   to   attempt  to  cross  it.     He  went  up   the   river, 


1554J        THE  SPANISH   MATCH  75 

therefore,  to  cross  at  a  higher  point;  and  this  cir- 
cuit, and  several  accidental  circumstances  which  oc- 
curred, detained  him  so  long  that  a  considerable  force 
had  been  got  together  to  receive  him  when  he  was 
ready  to  enter  the  city.  He  pushed  boldly  on  into  the 
narrow  streets,  which  received  him  like  a  trap  or  a 
snare.  The  city  troops  hemmed  up  his  way  after  he 
had  entered.  They  barricaded  the  streets,  they  shut 
the  gates,  and  armed  men  poured  in  to  take  posses- 
sion of  all  the  avenues.  Wyatt  depended  upon  find- 
ing the  people  of  London  on  his  side.  They  turned, 
instead,  against  him.  All  hope  of  success  in  his  en- 
terprise, and  all  possibility  of  escape  from  his  own 
awful  danger,  disappeared  together.  A  herald  came 
from  the  queen's  officer  calling  upon  him  to  surrender 
himself  quietly,  and  save  the  effusion  of  blood.  He 
surrendered  in  an  agony  of  terror  and  despair. 

The  Duke  of  Suffolk  learned  these  facts  in  another 
county,  where  he  was  endeavoring  to  raise  a  force  to 
aid  Wyatt.  He  immediately  fled,  and  hid  himself  in 
the  house  of  one  of  his  domestics.  He  was  betrayed, 
however,  seized,  and  sent  to  the  Tower.  Many  other 
prominent  actors  in  the  insurrection  were  arrested, 
and  the  others  fled  in  all  directions,  wherever  they 
could  find  concealment  or  safety. 

Lady  Jane's  life  had  been  spared  thus  far,  although 
she  had  been,  in  fact,  guilty  of  treason  against  Mary 
by  the  former  attempt  to  take  the  crown.     She  now. 


76  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

however,  two  days  after  the  capture  of  Wyatt,  re- 
ceived word  that  she  must  prepare  to  die.  She  was, 
of  course,  surprised  and  shocked  at  the  suddenness  of 
this  announcement;  but  she  soon  regained  her  com- 
posure, and  passed  through  the  awful  scenes  preceding 
her  death  with  a  fortitude  amounting  to  heroism, 
which  was  very  astonishing  in  one  so  young.  Her 
husband  was  to  die  too.  He  was  beheaded  first,  and 
she  saw  the  headless  body,  as  it  was  brought  back 
from  the  place  of  execution,  before  her  turn  came. 
She  acknowledged  her  guilt  in  having  attempted 
to  seize  her  cousin's  crown.  As  the  attempt  to  seize 
this  crown  failed,  mankind  consider  her  technically 
guilty.  If  it  had  succeeded,  Mary,  instead  of  Jane, 
would  have  been  the  traitor  who  would  have  died 
for  attempting  criminally  to  usurp  a  throne. 

In  the  mean  time  Wyatt  and  Suffolk  remained 
prisoners  in  the  Tower.  Suffolk  was  overwhelmed 
with  remorse  and  sorrow  at  having  been  the  means, 
by  his  selfish  ambition,  of  the  cruel  death  of  so  inno- 
cent and  lovely  a  child.  He  did  not  suffer  this  an- 
guish long,  however,  for  five  days  after  his  son  and 
Lady  Jane  were  executed,  his  head  fell  too  from  the 
block.     Wyatt  was  reserved  a  little  longer. 

He  was  more  formally  tried,  and  in  his  examina- 
tion he  asserted  that  the  Princess  Elizabeth  was  in- 
volved in  the  conspiracy.  Officers  were  immediately 
sent   to   arrest   Elizabeth.     She    was   taken  to  a    royal 


1554]         THE  SPANISH   MATCH  77 

palace  at  Westminster,  just  above  London,  called 
Whitehall,  and  shut  up  there  in  close  confinement, 
and  no  one  was  allowed  to  visit  her  or  speak  to  her. 
The  particulars  of  this  imprisonment  will  be  described 
more  fully  in  the  next  chapter.  Fifty  or  sixty  com- 
mon conspirators,  not  worthy  of  being  beheaded 
with  an  ax,  were  hanged,  and  a  company  of  six  hun- 
dred more  were  brought,  their  hands  tied,  and  halters 
about  their  necks,  a  miserable  gang,  into  Mary's  pres- 
ence, before  her  palace,  to  be  pardoned.  Wyatt  was 
then  executed.  When  he  came  to  die,  however,  he 
retracted  what  he  had  alleged  of  Elizabeth.  He  de- 
clared that  she  was  entirely  innocent  of  any  partici- 
pation in  the  scheme  of  rebellion.  Elizabeth's  friends 
believe  that  he  accused  her  because  he  supposed  that 
such  a  charge  would  be  agreeable  to  Mary,  and  that 
he  should  himself  be  more  leniently  treated  in  conse- 
quence of  it,  but  that  when  at  last  he  found  that 
sacrificing  her  would  not  save  him,  his  guilty  con- 
science scourged  him  into  doing  her  justice  in  his 
last  hours. 

All  obstacles  to  the  wedding  were  now  apparently 
removed;  for,  after  the  failure  of  Wyatt's  rebellion, 
nobody  dared  to  make  any  open  opposition  to  the 
plans  of  the  queen,  though  there  was  still  abundance 
of  secret  dissatisfaction.  Mary  was  now  very  impa- 
tient to  have  the  marriage  carried  into  effect.  A  new 
Parliament   was    called,  and    its    concurrence    in    the 


78  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

plan  obtained.  Mary  ordered  a  squadron  of  ships  to 
be  fitted  out  and  sent  to  Spain,  to  convey  the  bride- 
groom to  England.  The  admiral  who  had  command 
of  this  fleet  wrote  to  her  that  the  sailors  were  so 
hostile  to  Philip  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  safe  for 
her  to  intrust  him  to  their  hands.  Mary  then  com- 
manded this  force  to  be  dismissed,  in  order  to  ar- 
range some  other  way  to  bring  Philip  over.  She 
was  then  full  of  anxiety  and  apprehension  lest  some 
accident  might  befall  him.  His  ship  might  be 
wrecked,  or  he  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
French,  who  were  not  at  all  well  disposed  toward 
the  match.  Her  thoughts  and  her  conversation  were 
running  upon  this  topic  all  the  time.  She  was  rest- 
less by  day  and  sleepless  by  night,  until  her  health 
was  at  last  seriously  impaired,  and  her  friends  began 
really  to  fear  that  she  might  lose  her  reason.  She 
was  very  anxious,  too,  lest  Philip  should  find  her 
beauty  so  impaired  by  her  years,  and  by  the  state  of 
her  health,  that  she  should  fail,  when  he  arrived,  of 
becoming  the  object  of  his  love. 

In  fact,  she  complained  already  that  Philip  neglected 
her.  He  did  not  write  to  her,  or  express  in  any  way 
the  interest  and  affection  which  she  thought  ought  to 
be  awakened  in  his  mind  by  a  bride  who,  as  she  ex- 
pressed it,  was  going  to  bring  a  kingdom  for  a  dowry. 
This  sort  of  cold  and  haughty  demeanor  was,  how- 
ever, in  keeping  with  the  self-importance  and  the  pride 


1555]        1HE  SPANISH  MATCH  79 

which  then  often  marked  the  Spanish  character,  and 
which,  in  Philip  particularly,  always  seemed  to  be 
extreme. 

At  length  the  time  arrived  for  his  embarkation. 
He  sailed  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  up  the  Eng- 
lish Channel  until  he  reached  .Southampton,  a  fa- 
mous port  on  the  southern  coast  of  England.  There 
he  landed  with  great  pomp  and  parade.  He  assumed 
a  very  proud  and  stately  bearing,  which  made  a  very 
unfavorable  impression  upon  the  English  people  who 
had  been  sent  by  Queen  Mary  to  receive  him.  He 
drew  his  sword  when  he  landed,  and  walked  about 
with  it,  for  a  time,  in  a  very  pompous  manner,  hold- 
ing the  sword  unsheathed  in  his  hand,  the  crowd  of 
by-standers  that  had  collected  to  witness  the  spectacle 
of  the  landing  looking  on  all  the  time,  and  wonder- 
ing what  such  an  action  could  be  intended  to  inti- 
mate. It  was  probably  intended  simply  to  make  them 
wonder.  The  authorities  of  Southampton  had  arranged 
it  to  come  in  procession  to  meet  Philip,  and  present 
him  with  the  keys  of  the  gates,  an  emblem  of  an 
honorable  reception  into  the  city.  Philip  received  the 
keys,  but  did  not  deign  a  word  of  reply.  The  dis- 
tance and  reserve  which  it  had  been  customary  to 
maintain  between  the  English  sovereigns  and  their 
people  was  always  pretty  strongly  marked,  but  Philip's 
loftiness  and   grandeur    seemed  to  surpass  all  bounds. 

Mary  went  two  thirds  of  the  way  from  London  to 


8o  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1555 

the  coast  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  Here  the  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed,  and  the  whole  party  came, 
with  great  parade  and  rejoicings,  back  to  London,  and 
Mary,  satisfied  and  happy,  tooi<;  up  her  abode  with 
her  new  lord  in  Windsor  Castle. 

The  poor  queen  was,  however,  in  the  end,  sadly 
disappointed  in  her  husband.  He  felt  no  love  for  her; 
he  was  probably,  in  fact,  incapable  of  love.  He  re- 
mained in  England  a  year,  and  then,  growing  weary 
of  his  wife  and  of  his  adopted  country,  he  went 
back  to  Spain  again,  greatly  to  Queen  Mary's  vexa- 
tion and  chagrin.  They  were  both  extremely  disap- 
pointed in  not  having  children.  Philip's  motive  for 
marrying  Mary  was  ambition  wholly,  and  not  love; 
and  when  he  found  that  an  heir  to  inherit  the  two 
kingdoms  was  not  to  be  expected,  he  treated  his  un- 
happy wife  with  great  neglect  and  cruelty,  and  finally 
went  away  from  her  altogether.  He  came  back  again, 
it  is  true,  a  year  afterward,  but  it  was  only  to  com- 
pel Mary  to  join  with  him  in  a  war  against  France. 
He  told  her  that  if  she  would  not  do  this  he  would 
go  away  from  England  and  never  see  her  again. 
Mary  yielded;  but  at  length,  harassed  and  worn  down 
with  useless  regrets  and  repinings,  her  mental  suffer- 
ings are  supposed  to  have  shortened  her  days.  She 
died  miserably  a  few  years  after  her  marriage,  and 
thus  the  Spanish  match  turned  out  to  be  a  very 
unfortunate  match  indeed. 


CHAPTER   V. 

Elizabeth  in  the  Tower. 

Elizabeth's  position. —  I^egtitimacy  of  Mary's  and  Elizabeth's  birth. —  Mary*, 
and  Elizabeth's  dififerences. —  Ccurteney's  long  imprisonment. —  Mary's 
attentions  to  Courteney.—  Courteney's  attefitions  to  Elizabeth. —  Mary's 
plan  to  get  Elizabeth  in  her  power. — Elizabeth's  wariness. —  Wyatt  ac- 
cuses Elizabeth. —  Her  seizure. —  Elizabeth  borne  in  a  litter. —  She  is  ex- 
amined and  released. —  Elizabeth  again  arrested. — Her  letter  to  Mary. — 
The  situation  of  the  Tower. —  The  Traitor's  Gate.— Elizabeth  conveyed 
to  the  Tower. —  She  is  landed  at  the  Traitor's  Gate. —  Elizabeth's  recep- 
tion at  the  Tower. —  Her  unwillingness  to  enter. —  Elizabeth's  indigna- 
tion and  grief. —  She  is  closely  imprisoned. —  Elizabeth  in  the  garden. — 
The  little  child  and  the  flowers. —  Elizabeth  greatly  alarmed. —  Her  re- 
moval from  the  Tower. —  Elizabeth's  fears. —  Mary's  designs.- -Elizabeth 
taken  to  Richmond. —  Mary's  plan  for  marrying  her. —  Elizabeth's 
journey  to  Woodstock. —  Christmas  festivities. —  Elizabeth  persists  in  her 
innocence. —  The  torch-light  visit. —  Reconciliation  between  Blizabeth 
and  Mary. —  Elizabeth's  release. 

THE  imprisonment  of  Queen  Elizabeth  in  the 
Tower,  which  was  briefly  alluded  to  in  the 
last  chapter,  deserves  a  more  full  narration 
than  was  possible  to  give  to  it  there.  She  had  re- 
tired from  court  some  time  before  the  difficulties  about 
the  Spanish  match  arose.  It  is  true  that  she  took 
sides  with  Mary  in  the  contest  with  Northumberland 
and  the  friends  of  Jane  Grey,  and  she  shared  her 
royal  sister's  triumph  in  the  pomp  and  parade  of  the 
coronation;  but,   after  all,    she   and   Mary   could  not 

M.oia-16-6  (8i) 


82  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

possibly  be  very  good  friends.  The  marriages  of  their 
respective  mothers  could  not  both  have  been  valid. 
Henry  the  Eighth  was  so  impatient  that  he  could  not 
wait  for  a  divorce  from  Catharine  before  he  married 
Anne  Boleyn.  The  only  way  to  make  the  latter  mar- 
riage legal,  therefore,  was  to  consider  the  former  one 
null  and  void  from  the  beginning,  and  if  the  former 
one  was  not  thus  null  and  void,  the  latter  must  be 
so.  If  Henry  had  waited  for  a  divorce,  then  both 
marriages  might  have  been  valid,  each  for  the  time 
of  its  own  continuance,  and  both  the  princesses  might 
have  been  lawful  heirs;  but  as  it  was,  neither  of 
them  could  maintain  her  own  claims  to  be  considered 
a  lawful  daughter,  without  denying,  by  implication  at 
least,  those  of  the  other.  They  were  therefore,  as  it 
were,  natural  enemies.  Though  they  might  be  out- 
wardly civil  to  each  other,  it  was  not  possible  that 
there  could  be  any  irue  harmony  or  friendship  between 
them. 

A  circumstance  occurred,  too,  soon  after  Mary's 
accession  to  the  throne  which  resulted  in  openly 
alienating  the  feelings  of  the  two  ladies  from  each 
other.  There  was  a  certain  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  a  gentleman  of  high  rank  and  gieat  consid- 
eration, named  Courteney,  now  about  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  who  had  been  imprisoned  in  the  Tower 
by  King  Henry  the  Eighth  when  he  was  only  twelve 
years   old,  on    account    of  some    political    offenses   of 


1554]  ELIZABETH   IN  THE  TOWER      83 

his  father  !  He  had  thus  been  a  close  prisoner  for 
fourteen  years  at  Mary's  accession;  but  Mary  released 
him.  It  was  found,  when,  he  returned  to  society 
again,  that  he  had  employed  his  solitary  hours  in 
cultivating  his  mind,  acquiring  knowledge,  and  avail- 
ing himself  of  all  the  opportunities  for  improvement 
which  his  situation  afforded,  and  that  he  came  forth 
an  intelligent,  accomplished,  and  very  agreeable  man. 
The  interest  which  his  appearance  and  manners  ex- 
cited was  increased  by  the  sympathy  naturally  felt 
for  the  sufferings  that  he  had  endured.  In  a  word, 
he  became  a  general  favorite.  The  rank  of  his  fam- 
ily was  high  enough  for  Mary  to  think  of  him  for 
her  husband,  for  this  was  before  the  Spanish  match 
was  thought  of.  Mary  granted  him  a  title,  and  large 
estates,  and  showed  him  many  other  favors,  and,  as 
every  body  supposed,  tried  very  hard  to  make  an  im- 
pression on  his  heart.  Her  efforts  were,  however, 
vain.  Courteney  gave  an  obvious  preference  to  Eliz- 
abeth, who  was  young  then,  at  least,  if  not  beauti- 
ful. Thij  successful  rivalry  on  the  part  of  her  sister 
filled  the  queen's  heart  with  resentment  and  envy, 
and  she  exhibited  her  chagrin  by  so  many  little  marks 
of  neglect  and  incivility,  that  Elizabeth's  resentment 
was  roused  in  its  turn,  and  she  asked  permission  to 
retire  from  court  to  her  residence  in  the  country. 
Mary  readily  gave  the  permission,  and  thus  it  hap- 
pened that  when  Wyatt's  rebellion  first  broke  out,  as 


84  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [iSS^ 

described  in  the  last  chapter,  Elizabeth  was  living  in 
retirement  and  seclusion  at  Ashridge,  an  estate  of  hers 
at  some  distance  west  of  London.  As  to  Courteney, 
Mary  found  some  pretext  or  other  for  sending  him 
back  again  to  his  prison  in  the  Tower. 

Mary  was  immediately  afraid  that  the  malcontents 
would  join  with  Elizabeth  and  attempt  to  put  forward 
her  name  and  her  claims  to  the  crown,  which,  if  they 
were  to  do  it,  would  make  their  movement  very  for- 
midable. She  was  impressed  immediately  with  the 
idea  that  it  was  of  great  importance  to  get  Elizabeth 
back  again  into  her  power.  The  most  probable  way 
of  succeeding  in  doing  this,  she  thought,  was  to  write 
her  a  kind  and  friendly  letter,  inviting  her  to  return. 
She  accordingly  wrote  such  a  letter.  She  said  in  it 
that  certain  evil-disposed  persons  were  plotting  some 
disturbances  in  the  kingdom,  and  that  she  thought 
that  Elizabeth  was  not  safe  where  she  was.  She  urged 
her,  therefore,  to  return,  saying  that  she  should  be 
truly  welcome,  and  should  be  protected  against  all 
danger  if  she  would  come. 

An  invitation  from  a  queen  is  a  command,  and  Eliza- 
beth would  have  felt  bound  to  obey  this  summons, 
but  she  was  sick  when  it  came.  At  least  she  was 
not  well,  and  she  was  not  much  disposed  to  under- 
rate her  sickness  for  the  sake  of  being  able  to  travel 
on  this  occasion.    The  officers  of  her  household  made 


1554]  ELIZABETH  IN  THE  TOWER      85 

out  a  formal  certificate  to  the  effect  that  Elizabeth 
was  not  able  to  undertake  such  a  journey. 

In  the  mean  time  Wyatt's  rebellion  broke  out;  he 
marched  to  London,  was  entrapped  there  and  taken 
prisoner,  as  is  related  at  length  in  the  last  chapter. 
In  his  confessions  he  implicated  the  Princess  Elizabeth, 
and  also  Courteney,  and  Mary's  government  then  de- 
termined that  they  must  secure  Elizabeth's  person  at 
all  events,  sick  or  well.  They  sent,  therefore,  three 
gentlemen  as  commissioners,  with  a  troop  of  horse  to 
attend  them,  to  bring  her  to  London.  They  carried 
the  queen's  litter  with  them,  to  bring  the  princess 
upon  it  in  case  she  should  be  found  unable  to  travel 
in  any  other  way. 

This  party  arrived  at  Ashridge  at  ten  o'clock  at 
night.  They  insisted  on  being  admitted  at  once  into 
the  chamber  of  Elizabeth,  aud  there  they  made  known 
their  errand.  Elizabeth  was  terrified;  she  begged  not 
to  be  moved,  as  she  was  really  too  sick  to  go.  They 
called  in  some  physicians,  who  certified  that  she  could 
be  moved  without  danger  to  her  life.  The  next  morn- 
ing they  put  her  upon  the  litter,  a  sort  of  covered  bed, 
formed  iike  a  palanquin,  and  borne,  like  a  palanquin, 
by  men.  It  was  twenty-nine  miles  to  London,  and  it 
took  the  party  four  days  to  reach  the  city,  they  moved 
so  slowly,.  This  circumstance  is  mentioned  sometimes 
as  showing  how  sick  Elizabeth  must  have  been.  But 
the   fact  is,  there  was   no   reason    whatevei     for  any 


86  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

haste,  Elizabeth  was  now  completely  in  Mary's  power, 
and  it  could  make  no  possible  difference  how  long 
she  was  upon  the  road. 

The  litter  passed  along  the  roads  in  great  state. 
It  was  a  princess  that  they  were  bearing.  As  they 
approached  London,  a  hundred  men  in  handsome  uni- 
forms went  before,  and  an  equal  number  followed. 
A  great  many  people  came  out  from  the  city  to  meet 
the  princess,  as  a  token  of  respect.  This  displeased 
Mary,  but  it  could  not  well  be  prevented  or  punished. 
On  their  arrival  they  took  Elizabeth  to  one  of  the 
palaces  at  Westminster,  called  Whitehall.  She  was 
examined  by  Mary's  privy  council.  Nothing  was 
proved  against  her,  and,  as  the  rebellion  seemed  now 
wholly  at  an  end,  she  was  at  length  released,  and 
thus  ended  her  first  durance  as  a   political  prisoner. 

It  happened,  however,  that  other  persons  impli- 
cated in  Wyatt's  plot,  when  examined,  made  charges 
against  Elizabeth  in  respect  to  it,  and  Queen  Mary 
sent  another  force  and  arrested  her  again.  She  was 
taken  now  to  a  famous  royal  palace,  called  Hampton 
Court,  which  is  situated  on  the  Thames,  a  few  miles 
above  the  city.  She  brought  many  of  the  officers  of 
her  household  and  of  her  personal  attendants  with 
her;  but  one  of  the  queen's  ministers,  accompanied 
by  two  other  ofTicers,  came  soon  after,  and  dismissed 
all  her  own  attendants,  and  placed  persons  in  ihe 
service  of  the  queen  in  their  place.     They   also   set   * 


1554]  ELIZABETH   IN  THE  TOWER      87 

guard  around  the  palace,  and  then  left  the  princess, 
for  the  night,  a.  close  prisoner,  and  yet  without  any 
visible  signs  of  coercion,  for  all  these  guards  might  be 
guards  of  honor. 

The  next  day  some  officers  came  again,  and  told 
her  that  it  had  been  decided  to  send  her  to  the  Tower, 
and  that  a  barge  was  ready  at  the  river  to  convey 
her.  She  was  very  much  agitated  and  alarmed,  and 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  send  a  letter  to  her  sister 
before  they  took  her  away.  One  of  the  officers  in- 
sisted that  she  should  have  the  privilege,  and  the 
other  that  she  should  not.  The  former  conquered  in 
the  contest,  and  Elizabeth  wrote  the  letter  and  sent 
it.  It  contained  an  earnest  and  solemn  disavowal  of 
all  participation  in  the  plots  which  she  had  been 
charged  with  encouraging,  and  begged  Mary  to  be- 
lieve that  she  was  innocent,  and  allow  her  to  be  re- 
leased. 

The  letter  did  no  good.  Elizabeth  was  taken  into 
the  barge  and  conveyed  in  a  very  private  manner 
down  the  river.  Hampton  Court  is  above  London, 
several  miles,  and  the  Tower  is  just  below  the  city. 
There  are  several  entrances  to  this  vast  castle,  some 
of  them  by  stairs  from  the  river.  Among  these  is 
one  by  whici.  prisoners  accused  of  great  political 
crimes  were  usually  taken  in,  and  which  is  called  the 
Traitors'  Gate.  There  was  another  entrance,  also, 
from  the  river,  by  which  a  more  honorable  admission 


88  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

to  the  fortress  might  be  attained.  The  Tower  was 
not  solely  a  prison.  It  was  often  a  place  of  retreat 
for  kings  and  queens  from  any  sudden  danger,  and 
was  frequently  occupied  by  them  as  a  somewhat  per- 
manent residence.  There  were  a  great  number  of 
structures  within  the  walls,  in  some  of  which  royal 
apartments  were  fitted  up  with  great  splendor.  Eliza- 
beth had  often  been  in  the  Tower  as  a  resident  or  a 
visitor,  and  thus  far  there  was  nothing  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  to  forbid  the  supposition  that  they 
might  be  taking  her  there  as  a  guest  or  resident  now. 
She  was  anxious  and  uneasy,  it  is  true,  but  she  was 
not  certain  that  she  was  regarded  as  a  prisoner. 

In  the  mean  tim.e,  the  barge,  with  the  other  boats 
in  attendance,  passed  down  the  river  in  the  rain,  for 
it  was  a  stormy  day,  a  circumstance  which  aided  the 
authorities  in  their  eflfort  to  convey  their  captive  to 
her  gloomy  prison  without  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  populace.  Besides,  it  was  the  day  of  some  great 
religious  festival,  when  the  people  were  generally  in 
the  churches.  This  day  had  been  chosen  on  that 
very  account.  The  barge  and  the  boats  came  down 
the  river,  therefore,  without  attracting  much  attention; 
they  approached  the  landing-place  at  last,  and  stopped 
at  the  flight  of  steps  leading  up  fro'.i  the  water  to 
the  Traitors'  Gate. 

Elizabeth  declared  that  she  was  no  traitor,  and 
that   she  would  not  be   landed  there.     The    nobleman 


1554]  ELIZABETH  IN  THE  TOWER      89 

who  had  charge  of  her  told  her  simply,  in  reply,  that 
she  could  not  have  her  choice  of  a  place  to  land.  At 
the  same  time,  he  offered  her  his  cloak  to  protect 
her  from  the  rain  in  passing  from  the  barge  to  the 
castle  gate.  Umbrellas  had  not  been  invented  in  those 
days.  Elizabeth  threw  the  cloak  away  from  her  in 
vexation  and  anger.  She  found,  however,  that  it  was 
of  no  use  to  resist.  She  could  not  choose.  She 
stepped  from  the  barge  out  upon  the  stairs  in  the 
rain,  saying,  as  she  did  so,  "Here  lands  as  true  and 
faithful  a  subject  as  ever  landed  a  prisoner  at  these 
stairs.  Before  Thee,  O  God,  I  speak  it,  having  now 
no  friends  but  Thee  alone." 

A  large  company  of  the  warders  and  keepers  of 
the  castle  had  been  drawn  up  at  the  Traitors'  Gate 
to  receive  her,  as  was  customary  on  occasions  when 
prisoners  of  high  rank  were  to  enter  the  Tov/er.  As 
these  men  were  always  dressed  in  uniform  of  a  pe- 
cuhar  antique  character,  such  a  parade  of  them  made 
quite  an  imposing  appearance.  Elizabeth  asked  what 
it  meant.  They  told  her  that  that  M^as  the  customary 
mode  of  receiving  a  prisoner.  She  said  that  if  it 
was,  she  hoped  that  they  would  dispense  with  the 
ceremony  in  her  case,  and  asked  that,  for  her  sake, 
the  men  might  be  dismissed  from  such  attendance  in 
so  inclement  a  season.  The  men  blessed  her  for  her 
goodness,  and  kneeled  down  and  prayed  that  God 
would  preserve  her. 


90  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

She  was  extremely  unwilling  to  go  into  the 
prison.  As  they  approached  the  part  of  the  edifice 
where  she  was  to  be  confined,  through  the  court- 
yard of  the  Tower,  she  stopped  and  sat  down  upon 
a  stone,  perhaps  a  step,  or  the  curb  stone  of  a  walk. 
The  lieutenant  urged  her  to  go  in  out  of  the  cold 
and  wet.  "  Better  sitting  here  than  in  a  worse  place," 
she  replied,  "for  God  knoweth  whither  you  are 
bringing  me."  However,  she  rose  and  went  on. 
She  entered  the  prison,  was  conducted  to  her  room, 
and  the  doors  were  locked  and  bolted  upon  her. 

Elizabeth  was  kept  closely  imprisoned  for  a  month; 
after  that,  some  little  relaxation  in  the  strictness  of 
her  seclusion  was  allowed.  Permission  was  very 
reluctantly  granted  to  her  to  walk  every  day  in  the 
royal  apartments,  which  were  now  unoccupied,  so 
that  there  was  no  society  to  be  found  there,  but  it 
afforded  her  a  sort  of  pleasure  to  range  through  them 
for  recreation  and  exercise.  But  this  privilege  could 
not  be  accorded  without  very  strict  limitations  and 
conditions.  Two  officers  of  the  Tower  and  three 
women  had  to  attend  her;  the  windows,  too,  were 
shut,  and  she  was  not  permitted  to  go  and  look  out 
at  them.  This  was  rather  melancholy  recreation,  it 
must  be  allowed,  but  it  was  better  than  being  shut 
up  all  day  m  a  single  apartment,  bolted    and    barred. 

There  was  a  small  garden  within  the  castle,  not 
far  from  the    prison,    and    after   some    time   Elizabeth 


1554]  ELIZABETH   IN  THE  TOWER      91 

was  permitted  to  walk  there.  The  gates  and  doors, 
however,  were  kept  carefully  closed,  and  all  the  pris- 
oners, whose  rooms  looked  into  it  from  the  surround- 
ing buildings,  were  closely  watched  by  their  respective 
keepers,  while  Elizabeth  was  in  the  garden,  to  prevent 
their  having  any  communication  with  her  by  looks  or 
signs.  There  were  a  great  many  persons  confined  at 
this  time,  who  had  been  arrested  on  charges  connected 
with  Wyatt's  rebellion,  and  the  authorities  seem  to 
have  been  very  specially  vigilant  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  Elizabeth's  having  communication  with  any 
of  them.  There  was  a  little  child  of  five  years  of  age 
who  used  to  come  and  visit  Elizabeth  in  her  room, 
and  bring  her  flowers.  He  was  the  son  of  one  of 
the  subordinate  officers  of  the  Tower.  It  was,  how- 
ever, at  last  suspected  that  he  was  acting  as  a  mes- 
senger between  Elizabeth  and  Courteney.  Courteney, 
it  will  be  recollected,  had  been  sent  by  Mary  back  to 
the  Tower  again,  so  that  he  and  Elizabeth  were  now 
suffering  the  same  hard  fate  in  neighboring  cells. 
When  the  boy  was  suspected  of  bearing  communica- 
tions between  these  friends  and  companions  in  suf- 
fering, he  was  called  before  an  officer  and  closely 
examined.  His  answers  were  all  open  and  childlike, 
and  gave  no  confirmation  to  the  idea  which  had  been 
entertained.  The  child,  however,  was  forbidden  to  go 
to  Elizabeth's  apartment  any  more.  He  was  very 
much  grieved   at   this,  and    he  watched   for   the    next 


92  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

time  that  Elizabeth  was  to  walk  in  ihe  garden,  and 
putting  his  mouth  to  a  hole  in  the  gate,  he  called 
out.   "  Lady,  I  cannot  bring  you  any  more  flowers." 

After  Elizabeth  had  been  thus  confined  about  three 
months,  she  was  one  day  terribly  alarmed  by  the 
sounds  01  martial  parade  within  the  Tower,  produced 
by  the  entrance  of  an  officer  from  Queen  Mary, 
named  Sir  Thomas  Beddingfield,  at  the  head  of  three 
hundred  men.  Elizabeth  supposed  that  they  were 
come  to  execute  sentence  of  death  upon  her.  She 
asked  immediately  if  the  platform  on  which  Lady 
Jane  Grey  was  beheaded  had  been  taken  away.  They 
told  her  that  it  had  been  removed.  She  was  then 
somewhat  relieved.  They  afterward  told  her  that  Sir 
Thomas  had  come  to  take  her  away  from  the  Tower, 
but  that  it  was  not  known  where  she  was  to  go. 
This  alarmed  her  again,  and  she  sent  for  the  constable 
of  the  Tower,  whose  name  was  Lord  Chandos,  and 
questioned  him  very  closely  to  learn  what  they  were 
going  to  do  with  her.  He  said  that  it  had  been  de- 
cided to  remove  her  from  the  Tower,  and  send  her  to 
a  place  called  Woodstock,  where  she  was  to  remain 
under  Sir  Thomas  Beddingfield's  custody,  at  a  royal 
palace  which  was  situated  there.  Woodstock  is  forty 
or  fifty  miles  to  the  westward  of  London,  and  not 
far  from  the  city  of  Oxford. 

Elizabeth  was  very  much  alarmed  at  this  intelli- 
gence.    Her  mind  was  fiUed  with   vague   and    uncer- 


1554]  ELIZABETH  IN  THE  TOWER      93 

tain  fears  and  forebodings,  which  were  none  the  less 
oppressive  for  being  uncertain  and  vague.  She  had, 
however,  no  immediate  cause  for  apprehension.  Mary 
found  that  there  was  no  decisive  evidence  against 
her,  and  did  not  dare  to  keep  her  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower  too  long.  There  was  a  large  and  influential 
part  of  the  kingdom  who  were  Protestants.  They 
were  jealous  of  the  progress  Mary  was  making  to- 
ward bringing  the  Catholic  religion  in  again.  They 
abhorred  the  Spanish  match.  They  naturally  looked 
to  Elizabeth  as  their  leader  and  head,  and  Mary 
thought  that  by  too  great  or  too  long-continued  harsh- 
ness in  her  treatment  of  Elizabeth,  she  would  only 
exasperate  them,  and  perhaps  provoke  a  new  out- 
break against  her  authority.  She  determined,  there- 
fore, to  remove  the  princess  from  the  Tower  to  some 
less  odious  place  of  confinement. 

She  was  taken  first  to  Queen  Mary's  court  which 
was  then  held  at  Richmond,  just  above  London;  but 
she  was  surrounded  here  by  soldiers  and  guards,  and 
confined  almost  as  strictly  as  before.  She  was  des- 
tined, however,  here,  to  another  surprise.  It  was  a 
proposition  of  marriage.  Mary  had  been  arranging 
a  plan  for  making  her  the  wife  of  a  certain  personage, 
styled  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  His  dominions  were  on 
the  confines  of  Switzerland  and  France,  and  Mary 
thought  that  if  her  rival  were  once  married  and  re- 
moved there,  all  the  troubles  which   she,  Mary,  had 


94  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1554 

experienced  on  her  account  would  be  ended  forever. 
She  thought,  too,  that  her  sister  would  be  glad  to 
accept  this  offer,  which  opened  such  an  immediate 
escape  from  the  embarrassments  and  sufferings  of  her 
situation  in  England.  But  Elizabeth  was  prompt,  de- 
cided, and  firm,  in  the  rejection  of  this  plan.  England 
was  her  home,  and  to  be  Queen  of  England  the  end 
and  aim  of  all  her  wishes  and  plans.  She  had  rather 
continue  a  captive  for  the  present  in  her  native  land, 
than  to  live  in  splendor  as  the  consort  of  a  sovereign 
duke  beyond  the  Rhone. 

Mary  then  ordered  Sir  Thomas  Beddingfield  to  take 
her  to  Woodstock.  She  traveled  on  horseback,  and 
was  several  days  on  the  journey.  Her  passage  through 
the  country  attracted  great  attention.  The  people  as- 
sembled by  the  wayside,  expressing  their  kind  wishes, 
and  offering  her  gifts.  The  bells  were  rung  in  the 
villages  through  which  she  passed.  She  arrived  finally 
at  Woodstock,  and  was  shut    up  in  the  palace   there. 

This  was  in  July,  and  she  remained  in  Woodstock 
more  than  a  year,  not,  however,  always  very  closely 
confined.  At  Christmas  she  was  taken  to  court,  and 
allowed  to  share  in  the  festivities  and  rejoicings.  On 
this  occasion  —  it  was  the  first  Christmas  after  the 
marriage  of  Mary  and  Philip  —  the  great  hall  of  the 
palace  was  illuminated  with  a  thousand  lamps.  The 
princess  sat  at  table  next  to  the  king  and  queen.  She 
was  on  other   occasions,  too,   taken  away  for  a   time, 


■iSSS]  ELIZABETH  IN  THE  TOWER       95 

and   then   returned  to   her   seclusion   at  Wood- 

stock. These  changes,  perhaps,  only  served  to  make 
her  feel  more  than  ever  the  hardships  of  her  lot.  They 
say  that  one  day,  as  she  sat  at  her  window,  she  heard 
a  milk-maid  singing  in  the  fields,  in  a  blithe  and 
merry  strain,  and  said,  with  a  sigh,  that  she  wished 
she  was  a  milk-maid  too. 

King  Pfiilip,  after  his  marriage,  gradually  interested 
himself  in  her  behalf,  and  exerted  his  influence  to  have 
her  released;  and  Mary's  ministers  had  frequent  inter- 
views with  her,  and  endeavored  to  induce  her  to  make 
some  confession  of  guilt,  and  to  petition  Mary  for  re- 
lease as  a  matter  of  mercy.  They  could  not,  they  said, 
release  her  while  she  persisted  in  her  innocence,  with- 
out admitting  that  they  and  Mary  had  been  in  the 
wrong,  and  had  imprisoned  her  unjustly.  But  the  prin- 
cess was  immovable.  She  declared  that  she  was  per- 
fectly innocent,  and  that  she  would  never,  therefore, 
say  that  she  was  guilty.  She  would  rather  remain  in 
prison  for  the  truth,  than  be  at  liberty  and  have  it  be- 
lieved that  she  had  been  guilty  of  disloyalty  and  trea- 
son. 

At  length,  one  evening  in  May,  Elizabeth  received 
a  summons  to  go  to  the  palace  and  visit  Mary  in  her 
chamber.  She  was  conducted  there  by  torch -light. 
She  had  a  long  interview  with  the  queen,  the  conver- 
sation being  partly  in  English  and  partly  in  Spanish. 
It  was  not  very  satisfactory  on  either  side.     Elizabeth 


96  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1555 

persisted  in  asserting  her  innocence,  but  in  otlier  re- 
spects she  spoke  in  a  kind  and  conciliatory  manner 
to  the  queen.  The  interview  ended  in  a  sort  of  re- 
conciliation. Mary  put  a  valuable  ring  upon  Elizabeth's 
finger  in  token  of  the  renewal  of  friendship,  and  soon 
afterwards  the  long  period  of  restraint  and  confine- 
ment was  ended,  and  the  princess  returned  to  her  own 
estate  at  Hatfield  in  Hertfordshire,  where  she  lived 
sometime  in  seclusion,  devoting  herself,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  study  cf  Latin  and  Greek,  under  the 
instructions  of  Roger  Ascham. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Accession  to  the  Throne. 

Mary's  unhappy  reign. —  TJnrequited  love. —  Mary's  sufferings. —  Her  religioui 
principles. —  Progress  of  Mary's  Catholic  zeal. —  Her  moderation  at  first. 

—  Mary's  terrible  persecution  of  the  Protestants. —  Burning  at  the  stake. 

—  The  title  of  Bloody  given  to  Mary. —  Mary  and  Elizabeth  reconciled. — 
Scenes  of  festivity. —  The  war  with  France. —  I<oss  of  Calai.s. —  Murmurs 
of  the  English. —  King  of  Sweden's  proposal  to  Elizabeth. —  Mary's  en- 
ergy.— Mary's  privy  council  alarmed. —  Their  perplexity. —  Uncertainty 
about  Elizabeth's  future  course.—  Her  cautious  policy. —  Death  ot  Mary. 

—  Announcement  to  Parliament. —  Elizabeth  proclaimed. —  Joy  of  the 
people. —  The  Te  Deum. —  Elizabeth's  emotions. —  Cecil  made  secretary 
of  state. —  His  faithfulness. —  Elizabeth's  charge  to  Cecil. —  Her  journey 
to  I,ondon. —  Elizabeth's  triumphant  entrance  into  the  Tower. —  The 
coronation. —  Pageants  in  the  streets. —  Devices. —  Presentation  of  the 
Bible. — The  heavy  purse. —  The  sprig  of  rosemary.—  The  wedding  ring. — 

IF  IT  were  the  story  of  Mary  instead  of  that  of 
Elizabeth  that  we  were  following,  we  should 
have  now  to  pause  and  draw  a  very  melancholy 
picture  of  the  scenes  which  darkened  the  close  of  the 
queen's  unfortunate  and  unhappy  history.  Mary  loved 
her  husband,  but  she  could  not  secure  his  love  in  re- 
turn. He  treated  her  with  supercilious  coldness  and 
neglect,  and  evinced,  from  time  to  time,  a  degree  of 
interest  in  other  ladies  which  awakened  her  jealousy 
and  angei.  Of  ail  the  terrible  convulsions  to  which 
the    human  soul  is    subject,    there  is    not   one  which 

M.  o<H— 16— 7  ('3'') 


98  QUEEN   ELIZABETH  [1555 

agitates  it  more  deeply  than  the  tumult  of  feeling 
produced  by  the  mingling  of  resentment  and  love. 
Such  a  mingling,  or  rather,  such  a  conflict,  between 
passions  apparently  inconsistent  with  each  other,  is 
generally  considered  not  possible  by  those  who  have 
never  experienced  it.  But  it  is  possible.  It  is  possi- 
ble to  be  stung  with  a  sense  of  the  ingratitude,  and 
selfishness,  and  cruelty  of  an  object,  which,  after  all, 
the  heart  will  persist  in  clinging  to  with  the  fondest 
affection.  Vexation  and  anger,  a  burning  sense  of 
injury,  and  desire  for  revenge,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
feelings  of  love,  resistless  and  uncontrollable,  and 
bearing,  in  their  turn,  all  before  them,  alternately  get 
possession  of  the  soul,  harrowing  and  devastating  it 
in  their  awful  conflict,  and  even  sometimes  reigning 
over  it,  for  a  time,  in  a  temporary  but  dreadful  calm, 
like  that  of  two  wrestlers  who  pause  a  moment,  ex- 
hausted in  a  mortal  combat,  but  grappling  each  other 
with  deadly  energy  all  the  time,  while  they  are  taking 
breath  for  a  renewal  of  the  conflict.  Queen  Mary,  in 
one  of  these  paroxysms,  seized  a  portrait  of  her  hus- 
band and  tore  it  into  shreds.  The  reader,  who  has 
his  or  her  experience  in  affairs  of  the  heart  yet  to 
come,  will  say,  perhaps,  her  love  for  him  then  must 
have  been  all  gone.  No;  it  was  at  its  height.  We  do 
not  tear  the  portraits  of  those  who  are  indifferent  to  us. 
At  the  beginning  of  her  reign,  and,  in  fact,  during 
ail  the  previous  periods  of  her  life,  Mary  had  been  an 


»555]   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE     99 

honest  and  conscientious  Catholic.  She  undoubtedly 
truly  believed  that  the  Christian  Church  ought  to 
be  banded  together  in  one  great  communion,  with  the 
Pope  of  Rome  as  its  spiritual  head,  and  that  her  father 
had  broken  away  from  this  communion  —  which  was, 
in  fact,  strictly  true  —  merely  to  obtain  a  pretext  for 
getting  released  from  her  mother.  How  natural,  under 
such  circumstances,  that  she  should  have  desired  to 
return.  She  commenced,  immediately  on  her  acces- 
sion, a  course  of  measures  to  bring  the  nation  back 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  communion.  She  managed 
very  prudently  and  cautiously  at  first  —  especially  while 
the  affair  of  her  marriage  was  pending  —  seemingly 
very  desirous  of  doing  nothing  to  exasperate  those 
who  were  of  the  Protestant  faith,  or  even  to  awaken 
their  opposition.  After  she  was  married,  however, 
her  desire  to  please  her  Catholic  husband,  and  his 
widely-extended  and  influential  circle  of  Catholic  friends 
on  the  Continent,  made  her  more  eager  to  press  for- 
ward the  work  of  putting  down  the  Reformation  in 
England;  and  as  her  marriage  was  now  effected,  she 
was  less  concerned  about  the  consequences  of  any 
opposition  which  she  might  excite.  Then,  besides, 
her  temper,  never  very  sweet,  was  sadly  soured  by 
her  husband's  treatment  of  her.  She  vented  her  ill 
will  upon  those  who  would  not  yield  to  her  wishes 
in  respect  to  their  religious  faith.  She  caused  more 
and   more   severe   laws   to    be    passed,    and   enforced 


loo  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1555 

them  by  more  and  more  severe  penalties.  The  more 
she  pressed  these  violent  measures,  the  more  the 
fortitude  and 'resolution  of  those  v/ho  suffered  from 
them  were  aroused.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
more  they  resisted,  the  more  determined  she  became 
that  she  would  compel  them  to  submit.  She  went 
on  from  one  mode  of  coercion  to  another,  until  she 
reached  the  last  possible  point,  and  inflicted  the  most 
dreadful  physical  suffering  which  it  is  possible  for 
man  to  inflict  upon  his  fellow-man. 

This  worst  and  most  terrible  injury  is  to  burn  the 
living  victim  in  a  fire.  That  a  woman  could  ever 
order  this  to  be  done  would  seem  to  be  incredible. 
Queen  Mary,  however,  and  her  government  were 
so  determined  to  put  down,  at  all  hazards,  all  open 
disaffection  to  the  Catholic  cause,  that  they  did  not 
give  up  the  contest  until  they  had  burned  nearly  three 
hundred  persons  by  fire,  of  whom  more  than  fifty 
were  women,  and  four  were  children  !  This  horrible 
persecution  was,  however,  of  no  avail.  Dissentients 
increased  faster  than  they  could  be  burned  ;  and  such 
dreadful  punishments  became  at  last  so  intolerably 
odious  to  the  nation  that  they  were  obliged  to  desist, 
and  then  the  various  ministers  of  state  concerned  in 
them  attempted  to  throw  off  the  blame  upon  each 
other.  The  English  nation  have  never  forgiven  Mary 
for  these  atrocities.  They  gave  her  the  name  of  Bloody 
Mary  at  the  time,  and  she  has  retained  it  to  the  present 


1557]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    loi 

day.  In  one  of  the  ancient  histories  of  the  realm,  at 
the  head  of  the  chapter  devoted  to  Mary,  there  is  placed, 
as  an  appropriate  emblem  of  the  character  of  her 
reign,  the  picture  of  a  man  writhing  helplessly  at  a 
stake,  with  the  flames  curling  around  him,  and  a  fe- 
rocious-looking soldier  standing  by,  stirring  up  the 
fire. 

The  various  disappointments,  vexations,  and  trials 
which  Mary  endured  toward  the  close  of  her  life, 
had  one  good  effect;  they  softened  the  animosity 
which  she  had  felt  toward  Elizabeth,  and  in  the  end 
something  like  a  friendship  seemed  to  spring  up  be- 
tween the  sisters.  Abandoned  by  her  husband,  and 
looked  upon  with  dislike  or  hatred  by  her  subjects, 
and  disappointed  in  all  her  plans,  she  seemed  to  turn 
at  last  to  Elizabeth  for  companionship  and  comfort. 
The  sisters  visited  each  other.  First  Elizabeth  went 
to  London  to  visit  the  queen,  and  was  received  with 
great  ceremony  and  parade.  Then  the  queen  went 
to  Hatfield  to  visit  the  princess,  attended  by  a  large 
company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  court,  and 
several  days  were  spent  there  in  festivities  and  re- 
joicings. There  were  plays  in  the  palace,  and  a  bear- 
baiting  in  the  court-yard,  and  hunting  in  the  park, 
and  many  other  schemes  ot  pleasure.  This  renewal 
of  friendly  intercourse  between  the  queen  and  the 
princess  brought  the  latter  gradually  out  of  her  retire- 
ment.    Now  that  the  queen  began  to  evince  a  friendly 


I02  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1557 

spirit  toward  her,  it  was  safe  for  others  to  show  her 
kindness  and  to  pay  her  attention.  The  disposition 
to  do  this  increased  rapidly  as  Mary's  health  gradu- 
ally declined,  and  it  began  to  be  understood  that  she 
would  not  live  long,  and  that,  consequently,  Ehzabeth 
would  soon  be  called  to    the  throne. 

The  v/ar  which  Mary  had  been  drawn  into  with 
France,  by  Philip's  threat  that  he  would  never  see 
her  again,  proved  very  disastrous.  The  town  of  Cal- 
ais, which  is  opposite  to  Dover,  across  the  straits, 
and,  of  course,  on  the  French  side  of  the  channel, 
tiad  been  in  the  possession  of  the  English  for  two 
hundred  years.  It  was  very  gratifying  to  English 
pride  to  hold  possession  of  such  a  stronghold  on  the 
French  shore;  but  nov/  every  thing  seemed  to  go 
against  Mary.  Calais  was  defended  by  a  citadel  nearly 
as  large  as  the  town  itself,  and  was  deemed  impreg- 
nable. In  addition  to  this,  an  enormous  English  force 
was  concentrated  there.  The  French  general,  how- 
ever, contrived,  partly  by  stratagem,  and  partly  by 
overpowering  numbers  of  troops,  and  ships,  and  bat- 
teries of  cannon,  to  get  possession  of  the  whole.  The 
English  nation  were  indignant  at  this  result.  Their 
queen  and  her  government,  so  energetic  in  imprison- 
ing and  burning  her  own  subjects  at  home,  were  pow- 
erless, it  seemed,  in  coping  with  their  enemies  abroad. 
Murmurs  of  dissatisfaction  were  heard  every  where, 
and  Mary  sank  down  upon  her  sick  bed  overwhelmci 


1558J   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    103 

with  disappointment,  vexation,  and  chagrin.  She  said 
that  she  should  die,  and  that  if,  after  her  death,  they 
examined  her  body,  they  would  find  Calais  like  a 
load  upon  her  heart. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  must  have  been  Elizabeth's 
secret  wish  that  she  would  die,  since  her  death  would 
release  the  princess  from  all  the  embarrassments  and 
restraints  of  her  position,  and  raise  her  at  once  to  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  honor  and  power.  She  remained, 
however,  quietly  at  Hatfield,  acting  in  all  things  in  a 
very  discreet  and  cautious  manner.  At  one  time  she 
received  proposals  from  the  King  of  Sweden  that  she 
would  accept  of  his  son  as  her  husband.  She  asked 
the  embassador  if  he  had  communicated  the  affair  to 
Mary.  On  his  reply  that  he  had  not,  Elizabeth  said 
that  she  could  not  entertain  at  all  any  such  question, 
unless  her  sister  were  first  consulted  and  should  give 
her  approbation.  She  acted  on  the  same  principles  in 
every  thing,  being  very  cautious  to  give  Maiy  and 
her  government  no  cause  of  complaint  against  her. 
and  willing  to  wait  patiently  until  her  own  time 
should  come. 

Though  Mary's  disappointments  and  losses  filled 
her  mind  with  anguish  and  suffering,  they  did  not 
soften  her  heart.  She  seemed  to  grow  more  cruel 
and  vindictive  the  more  her  plans  and  projects  failed. 
Adversity  vexed  and  irritated,  instead  of  calming  and 
subduing  her.     She    revived    her   persecutions    of    the 


I04  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1558 

Protestants.  She  fitted  out  a  fleet  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty  ships  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  French  coast, 
and  attempt  to  retrieve  her  fallen  fortunes  there.  She 
called  Parliament  together  and  asked  for  more  supplies. 
All  this  time  she  was  confined  to  her  sick  chamber, 
but  not  considered  in  danger.  The  Parliament  were 
debating  the  question  of  supplies.  Her  privy  council 
were  holding  daily  meetings  to  carry  out  the  plans 
and  schemes  which  she  still  continued  to  form,  and 
all  w?s  excitement  and  bustle  in  and  around  the  court, 
when  one  day  the  council  was  thunderstruck  by  an 
announcement  that  she  was  dying. 

They  knew  very  well  that  her  death  would  be  a 
terrible  blow  to  them.  They  were  all  Catholics,  and 
had  been  Mary's  instruments  in  the  terrible  persecu- 
tions with  which  she  had  oppressed  the  Protestant 
faith.  With  Mary's  death,  of  course  they  would  fall. 
A  Protestant  princess  was  ready,  at  Hatfield,  to  as- 
cend the  throne.  Every  thing  would  be  changed,  and 
there  was  even  danger  that  they  might,  in  their  turn, 
be  sent  to  the  stake,  in  retaliation  for  the  cruelties 
which  they  had  caused  others  to  suffer.  They  made 
arrangements  to  have  Mary's  death,  whenever  it 
should  take  place,  concealed  for  a  few  hours,  till  they 
could  consider  what  they  should  do. 

There  was  nothing  that  they  could  do.  There  was 
now  no  other  considerable  claimant  to  the  throne  but 
Elizabeth,  except  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  who  was  far 


1558]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    105 

away  in  France.  She  was  a  Catholic,  it  was  true;  but 
to  bring  her  into  the  country  and  place  her  upon  the 
throne  seemed  to  be  a  hopeless  undertaking.  Queen 
Mary's  counselors  soon  found  that  they  must  give  up 
their  cause  in  despair.  Any  attempt  to  resist  Eliza- 
beth's claims  would  be  high  treason,  and,  of"  course, 
if  unsuccessful,  would  bring  the  heads  of  all  con- 
cerned in  it  to  the  block. 

Besides,  it  was  not  certain  that  Elizabeth  wouid 
act  decidedly  as  a  Protestant.  She  had  been  very 
prudent  and  cautious  during  Mary's  reign,  and  had 
been  very  careful  never  to  manifest  any  hostility  to 
the  Catholics.  She  never  had  acted  as  Mary  had  done 
on  the  occasion  of  her  brothers  funeral,  when  she 
refused  to  countenance  with  her  presence  the  national 
service  because  it  was  undei  Protestant  forms.  Eliza- 
beth had  always  accompanied  Mary  to  mass  when- 
ever occasion  required  ;  she  had  always  spoken  respect- 
fully of  the  Catholic  faith;  and  once  she  asked  Mary 
to  lend  her  some  Catholic  books,  in  order  that  she 
might  inform  herself  more  fully  on  the  subject  of  the 
principles  of  the  Roman  faith.  It  is  true,  she  acted 
thus,  not  because  there  was  any  real  leaning  in  her 
mind  toward  the  Catholic  religion;  it  was  all  merely 
a  wise  and  sagacious  policy.  Surrounded  by  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  as  she  was,  during  Mary's  reign,  her 
only  hope  of  safety  was  in  passing  as  quietly  as  pos- 
sible along,  and    managing  warily,  so  as  to    keep   the 


io6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1558 

hostility  which  was  burning  secretly  against  her  from 
breaking  out  into  an  open  flame.  This  was  her  ob- 
ject in  retiring  so  much  from  the  court  and  from  all 
participation  in  public  affairs,  in  avoiding  all  religious 
and  political  contests,  and  spending  her  time  in  the 
study  of  Greek,  and  Latin,  and  philosophy.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  when  Mary  died,  nobody  knew  cer- 
tainly what  course  Elizabeth  would  pursue.  Nobody 
had  any  strong  motive  for  opposing  her  succession. 
The  council,  therefore,  after  a  short  consultation,  con- 
cluded to  do  nothing  but  simply  to  send  a  message 
to  the  House  of  Lords,  announcing  to  them  the  un- 
expected death  of  the  queen. 

The  House  of  Lords,  on  receiving  this  intelligence, 
sent  for  the  Commons  to  come  into  their  hall,  as  is 
usual  when  any  important  communication  is  to  be 
made  to  them  either  by  the  Lords  themselves  or  by 
the  sovereign.  The  chancellor,  who  is  the  highest 
civil  officer  of  the  kingdom,  in  respect  to  rank,  and 
who  presides  in  the  House  of  Lords,  clothed  in  a 
magnificent  antique  costume,  then  rose  and  announced 
to  the  Commons,  standing  before  him,  the  death  of 
the  sovereign.  There  was  a  moment's  solemn  pause, 
such  as  propriety  on  the  occasion  of  an  announcement 
like  this  required,  all  thoughts  being,  too,  for  a  mo- 
ment turned  to  the  chamber  where  the  body  of  the 
departed  queen  was  lying.  But  the  sovereignty  was 
no  longer   there.     The   mysterious    principle   had  fled 


1558]   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    107 

with  the  parting  breath,  and  Elizabeth,  though  wholly 
unconscious  of  it,  had  been  for  several  hours  the  queen. 
The  thoughts,  therefore,  of  the  august  and  solemn  as- 
sembly lingered  but  for  a  moment  in  the  royal  pal- 
ace, which  had  now  lost  all  its  glory;  they  soon  turned 
spontaneously,  and  with  eager  haste,  to  the  new  sove- 
reign at  Hatfield,  and  the  lofty  arches  of  the  Parlia- 
ment hall  rung  with  loud  acclamations,  "God  save 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  grant  her  a  long  and  happy 
reign." 

The  members  of  the  Parliament  went  forth  immedi- 
ately to  proclaim  the  new  queen.  There  are  two  prin- 
cipal places  where  it  was  then  customary  to  proclaim 
the  English  sovereigns.  One  of  these  was  before  the 
royal  palace  at  Westminster,  and  the  other  in  the  city 
of  London,  at  a  very  public  place  called  the  Great  Cross 
at  Cheapside.  The  people  assembled  in  great  crowds 
at  these  points  to  witness  the  ceremony,  and  received 
the  announcement  which  the  heralds  made  with  the 
most  ardent  expressions  of  joy.  The  bells  were  every 
where  rung;  tables  were  spread  in  the  streets,  and 
booths  erected,  bonfires  and  illuminations  were  pre- 
pared for  the  evening,  and  every  thing,  indicated  a 
deep  and  universal  joy. 

In  fact,  this  joy  was  so  strongly  expressed  as  to  be 
even  in  some  degree  disrespectful  to  the  memory  of 
the  departed  queen.  There  is  a  famous  ancient  Latin 
hymn  which  has   long  been  sung  in  England  and   on 


io8  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1558 

the  Continent  of  Europe  on  occasions  of  great  public 
rejoicing.  It  is  called  the  Te  Deum,  or  sometimes  the 
Te  Deum  Laitdamus.  These  last  are  the  three  Latin 
words  with  which  the  hymn  commences,  and  mean, 
7hee,  God,  we  praise.  They  sang  the  Te  Deum  in 
the  churches  of  London  on  the  Sunday  after  Mary 
died. 

In  the  mean  time,  messengers  from  the  council  pro 
ceeded  with  all  speed  to  Hatfield,  to  announce  to 
Elizabeth  the  death  of  her  sister,  and  her  own  acces- 
sion to  the  sovereign  power.  The  tidings,  of  course, 
filled  Elizabeth's  mind  with  the  deepest  emotions. 
The  oppressive  sense  of  constraint  and  danger  which 
she  had  endured  as  her  daily  burden  for  so  many 
years,  was  lifted  suddenly  from  her  soul.  She  could 
not  but  rejoice,  though  she  was  too  much  upon  her 
guard  to  express  her  joy.  She  was  overwhelmed 
with  a  profound  agitation,  and,  kneeling  down,  she 
exclaimed  in  Latin,  "It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is 
wonderful  in  our  eyes."  ' 

Several  of  the  members  of  Mary's  privy  council 
repaired  immediately  to  Hatfield.  The  queen  sum 
moned  them  to  attend  her,  and  in  their  presence  ap- 
pointed her  chief  secretary  of  state.  His  name  was 
Sir  William  Cecil.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning 
and  ability,  and  he  remained  in  office  under  Elizabeth 
for  forty  years.  He  became  her  chief  adviser  and  in- 
strument, an    able,  faithful,    and    indefatigable    servant 


1558]   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    109 

and  friend  during  almost  tlie  wliole-  of  lier  reign. 
His  name  is  accordingly  indissolubly  connected  with 
that  of  Elizabeth  in  all  the  political  events  which  oc- 
curred while  she  continued  upon  the  throne,  and  it 
will,  in  consequence,  very  frequently  occur  in  the  se- 
quel of  this  history.  He  was  now  about  forty  years 
of  age.     Elizabeth  was  twenty-five. 

Elizabeth  had  known  Cecil  long  before.  He  had 
been  a  faithful  and  true  friend  to  her  in  her  adversity. 
He  had  been,  in  many  cases,  a  confidential  adviser, 
and  had  maintained  a  secret  correspondence  with  her 
in  certain  trying  periods  of  her  life.  She  had  re- 
solved, doubtless,  to  make  him  her  chief  secretary  of 
state  so  soon  as  she  should  succeed  to  the  throne. 
And  now  that  the  time  had  arrived,  she  instated  him 
solemnly  in  his  office.  In  so  doing,  she  pronounced, 
in  the  hearing  of  the  other  members  of  the  council, 
the  following  charge: 

"I  give  you  this  charge  that  you  shall  be  of  my 
privy  council,  and  content  yourself  to  take  pains  for 
me  and  my  realm.  This  judgment  I  have  of  you, 
that  you  will  not  be  corrupted  with  any  gift;  and 
that  you  will  be  faithful  to  the  state;  and  that,  with- 
out respect  of  my  private  will,  you  will  give  me 
that  counsel  that  you  think  best;  and  that,  if  you 
shall  know  any  thing  necessary  to  be  declared  to  me 
of  secrecy  you  shall  show  it  to  myself  only;  and  as- 


no  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1558 

sure  yourself  I  will  not  fail  to  keep  taciturnity  therein. 
And  therefore  herewith  I  charge  you." 

It  was    about  a  week  after  the    death  of  Mary  be- 
fore the  arrangements   were  completed   for  Elizabeth's 
journey   to  London,  to   take  possession  of  the   castles 
and  palaces  which  pertain  there  to  the  English  sover- 
eigns.    She  was   followed  on   this  journey  by  a  train 
of  about  a  thousand    attendants,  all  nobles   or  person- 
ages   of  high    rank,  both    gentlemen  and    ladies.     She 
went  first  to  a  palace    called    the  Charter  House,  near 
London,  where   she    stopped   until    preparations   could 
be  made  for  her  formal  and    public  entrance    into  the 
Tower;  not,  as  before,    through   the  Traitors'  Gate,   a 
prisoner,  but    openly,  through   the  grand   entrance,  in 
the  midst  of  acclamations,  as  the  proud  and  applauded 
sovereign  of  the  mighty  realm  whose  capital    the  an- 
cient   fortress    was    stationed  to    defend.     The   streets 
through  which   the  gorgeous    procession    was  to  pass 
were  spread  with  fine,  smooth  gravel;  bands  of  musi- 
cians were  stationed  at  intervals,  and  decorated  arches, 
and  banners,  and  flags,  with  countless  devices  of  loy- 
alty and  welcome,  and  waving  handkerchiefs,  greeted 
her  all  the  way.     Heralds  and  other  great  officers,  mag- 
nificently dressed,  and    mounted   on  horses    richly  ca- 
parisoned, rode   before   her,  announcing  her  approach, 
v/ith  trumpets  and  proclamations;  while  she  followed 
in  the  train,  mounted  upon  a  beautiful  horse,  the  object 


1558]   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    iii 

of  universal  homage.  Thus  Elizabeth  entered  the 
Tower;  and  inasmuch  as  forgetting  her  friends  is  a 
fault  with  which  she  can  not  justly  be  charged,  we 
may  hope,  at  least,  that  one  of  the  first  acts  which  she 
performed,  after  getting  established  in  the  royal  apart- 
ments, was  to  send  for  and  reward  the  kind-hearted 
child  who  had  been  reprimanded  for  bringing  her  the 
flowers. 

The  coronation,  when  the  time  arrived  for  it,  was 
very  splendid.  The  queen  went  in  state  in  a  sump- 
tuous chariot,  preceded  by  trumpeters  and  heralds  in 
armor,  and  accompanied  by  a  long  train  of  noblemen, 
barons,  and  gentlemen,  and  also  of  ladies,  all  most 
richly  dressed  in  crimson  velvet,  the  trappings  of  the 
horses  being  of  the  same  material.  The  people  of 
London  thronged  all  the  streets  through  which  she 
was  to  pass,  and  made  the  air  resound  with  shouts 
and  acclamations.  There  were  triumphal  arches  erected 
here  and  there  on  the  way,  with  a  great  variety  of  odd 
and  quaint  devices,  and  a  child  stationed  upon  each, 
who  explained  the  devices  to  Elizabeth  as  she  passed, 
in  English  verse,  written  for  the  occasion.  One  of 
these  pageants  was  entitled  "The  Seat  of  Worthy 
Governance."  There  was  a  throne,  supported  by  fig- 
ures which  represented  the  cardinal  virtues,  such  as 
Piety,  Wisdom,  Temperance,  Industry,  Truth,  and  be- 
neath their  feet  were  the  opposite  vices.  Superstition, 
Ignorance,  Intemperance,  Idleness,  and  Falsehood:  these 


112  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1558 

• 

the  virtues  were  trampling  upon.  On  the  throne  was 
a  representation  of  Elizabeth.  At  one  place  were  eight 
personages  dressed  to  represent  the  eight  beatitudes 
pronounced  by  our  Savior  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
—  the  meek,  the  merciful,  etc.  Each  of  these  qualities 
was  ingeniously  ascribed  to  Elizabeth.  This  could  be 
done  with  much  more  propriety  then  than  in  subse- 
quent years.  In  another  place,  an  ancient  figure,  rep- 
resenting Time,  came  out  of  a  cave  which  had  been 
artificially  constructed  with  great  ingenuity,  leading  his 
daughter  whose  name  was  Truth.  Truth  had  an  Eng- 
lish Bible  in  her  hands,  which  she  presented  to  Eliza- 
beth as  she  passed.  This  had  a  great  deal  of  meaning  ; 
for  the  Catholic  government  of  Mary  had  discour- 
aged the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular 
tongue.  When  the  procession  arrived  in  the  middle 
of  the  city,  some  officers  of  the  city  government  ap- 
proached the  queen's  chariot,  and  delivered  to  her  a 
present  of  a  very  large  and  heavy  purse  filled  with 
gold.  The  queen  had  to  employ  both  hands  in  lifting 
it  in.  It  contained  an  amount  equal  in  value  to  two 
or  three  thousand  dollars. 

The  queen  was  very  affable  and  gracious  to  all 
the  people  on  the  way.  Poor  women  would  come 
up  to  her  carriage  and  offer  her  flowers,  which  she 
would  very  condescendingly  accept.  Several  times 
she  stopped  her  carriage,  when  she  saw  that  any  one 
wished  to  speak  with  her,  or  had  something  to  offer  ; 


1558]   ACCESSION  TO  THE  THRONE    113 

and  so  great  was  the  exaltation  of  a  queen  in  those 
days,  in  the  estimation  of  mankind,  that  these  acts 
were  considered,  by  all  the  humble  citizens  of  London, 
as  acts  of  very  extraordinary  affability,  and  they  awak- 
ened universal  enthusiasm.  There  was  one  branch  of 
rosemary,  given  to  the  queen  by  a  poor  woman  in 
Fleet  Street  ;  the  queen  put  it  up  conspicuously  in 
the  carriage,  where  it  remained  all  the  way,  watched 
by  ten  thousand  eyes,  till  it  got  to  Westminster. 

The  coronation  took  place  at  Westminster  on  the 
following  day.  The  crown  was  placed  upon  the  young 
maiden's  head  in  the  midst  of  a  great  throng  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  who  were  all  superbly  dressed,  and 
'  who  made  the  vast  edifice  in  which  the  service  was 
performed  ring  with  their  acclamations,  and  their  shouts 
of  "Long  live  the  Queen!"  During  the  ceremonies, 
Elizabeth  placed  a  wedding  ring  upon  her  finger  with 
great  formality,  to  denote  that  she  considered  the  occa- 
sion as  the  celebration  of  her  espousal  to  the  realm  of 
England  ;  she  was  that  day  a  bride,  and  should  never 
have,  she  said,  any  other  husband.  She  kept  this, 
the  only  wedding  ring  she  ever  wore,  upon  her  fin- 
ger, without  once  removing  it,  for  more  than  forty 
years. 

M.  of  H.— 16-8 


CHAPTER     VII. 

The  War  in  Scotland. 

Elizabeth   and   Mary   Queen   of  Scots. —  Their  rivalry. —  Character  of  Mary. 

—  Character  of  Elizabeth. —  Elizabeth's  celebrity  while  living. —  Inter- 
est in  Mary  when  dead. —  Real  nature  of  the  question  at  issue  between 
Mary  and  Elizabeth. —  The  two  marriages. —  One  or  the  other  necessarily 
null. —  Views  of  Mary's  friends. —  Views  of  Elizabeth's  friends. —  Circum- 
stances of  Henry  the  Eighth's  first  marriage.— The  papal  dispensation. 

—  Doubts  about  it. —  England  turns  Protestant. —  The  marriage  annulled. 

—  Mary  in  France. —  She  becomes  Queen  of  France. — Mary's  pretensions 
to    the     English    crown. —  Elizabeth's   fears. —  Measures    of    Elizabeth. 

—  Progress  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland. —  Difficulties  in  Scotland.— 
Elizabeth's  interference.—  Fruitless    negotiations. —  The   war   goes  on. 

—  The  French  shut  up  in  I,eith. —  Situation  of  the  town.— The  English 
victorious. —  The  Treaty  of  Edinburgh —  Mary  refuses  to  ratify  it. —  Death 
of  Mary's  husband. —  She  returns  to  Scotland. 

QUEEN  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  are 
strongly  associated  together  in  the  minds 
___of  all  readers  of  English  history.  They  were 
contemporary  sovereigns,  reigning  at  the  same  tirrie 
over  sister  kingdoms.  They  were  cousins,  and  yet, 
precisely  on  account  of  the  family  relationship  which 
existed  between  them,  they  became  implacable  foes. 
The  rivalry  and  hostility,  sometimes  open  and  some- 
times concealed,  was  always  in  action,  and,  after  a 
contest  of  more  than  twenty  years,  Elizabeth  tri- 
umphed. She  made  Mary  her  prisoner,  kept  her 
many  years  a  captive,  and  at  last  closed  the  contest 
(114) 


1559]      IHE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  115 

by  commanding,  or  at  least  allowing,  her   fallen  rival 
to  be  beheaded. 

Thus  Elizabeth  had  it  all  her  own  way,  while  the 
scenes  of  her  life  and  of  Mary's  were  transpiring,  but 
since  that  time  mankind  have  generally  sympathized 
most  strongly  with  the  conquered  one,  and  condemned 
the  conqueror.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this, 
and  among  them  is  the  vast  influence  exerted  by  the 
difference  in  the  personal  character  of  the  parties. 
Mary  was  beautiful,  feminine  in  spirit,  and  lovely. 
Elizabeth  was  talented,  masculine,  and  plain.  Mary 
was  artless,  unaffected,  and  gentle.  Elizabeth  was 
heartless,  intriguing,  and  insincere.  With  Mary, 
though  her  ruling  principle  was  ambition,  her  ruling 
passion  was  love.  Her  love  led  her  to  great  trans- 
gressions and  into  many  sorrows,  but  mankind  par- 
don the  sins  and  pity  the  sufferings  which  are  caused 
by  love  more  readily  than  those  of  any  other  origin. 
With  Elizabeth,  ambition  was  the  ruling  principle,  and 
the  ruling  passion  too.  Love,  with  her,  was  only  a 
pastime.  Her  transgressions  were  the  cool,  deliberate, 
well-considered  acts  of  selfishness  and  desire  of 
power.  During  her  lifetime  her  success  secured  her 
the  applauses  of  the  world.  The  world  is  always 
ready  to  glorify  the  greatness  which  rises  visibly  be- 
fore it,  and  to  forget  sufferings,  which  are  meekly  and 
patiently  born  in  seclusion  and  solitude.  Men  praised 
and  honored  Elizabeth,  therefore,  while  she  lived,  and 


ii6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1559 

neglected  Mary.  But  since  the  halo  and  the  fascination 
of  the  visible  greatness  and  glory  have  passed  away, 
they  have  found  a  f^ir  greater  charm  in  Mary's  beauty  and 
misfortune  than  in  her  great  rival's  pride  and  power. 
There  is  often  thus  a  great  difference  in  the  com- 
parative interest  we  take  in  persons  or  scenes,  when, 
on  the  one  hand,  they  are  realities  before  our  eyes. 
and  when,  on  the  other,  they  are  only  imaginings 
which  are  brought  to  our  minds  by  pictures  or 
descriptions.  The  hardships  which  it  was  very 
disagreeable  or  painful  to  bear,  afford  often  great 
amusement  or  pleasure  in  the  recollection.  The  old 
broken  gate  which  a  gentleman  would  not  tolerate 
an  hour  upon  his  grounds,  is  a  great  beauty  in  the 
picture  which  hangs  in  his  parlor.  We  shun  poverty 
and  distress  while  they  are  actually  existing;  nothing 
is  more  disagreeable  to  us;  and  we  gaze  upon  pros- 
perity and  wealth  with  never-ceasing  pleasure.  But 
when  they  are  gone,  and  we  have  only  the  tale  to 
hear,  it  is  the  story  of  sorrow  and  suffering  which 
possesses  the  charm.  Thus  it  happened  that  when 
the  two  queens  were  Hving  realities,  Elizabeth  was 
the  center  of  attraction  and  the  object  or  universal 
•homage;  but  when  they  came  to  be  themes  of  his- 
tory, all  eyes  and  hearts  began  soon  to  turn  instinc- 
tively to  Mary.  It  was  London,  and  Westminster,  and 
Kenilworth,  that  possessed  the  interest  while  Elizabeth 
lived,  but  it  is  Holyrood  and  Loch  Leven  now. 


1559]      THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  117 

It  results  from  these  causes  that  Mary's  story  is 
read  far  more  frequently  than  Elizabeth's,  and  this  op- 
erates still  further  to  the  advantage  of  the  former,  for 
we  are  always  prone  to  take  sides  with  the  heroine 
of  the  tale  we  are  reading.  AH  these  considerations, 
which  have  had  so  much  influence  on  the  judgment 
men  form.,  or,  rather,  on  the  feeling  to  which  they 
incline  in  this  famous  contest,  have,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, very  little  to  do  with  the  true  merits  of  the 
case.  And  if  we  make  a  serious  attempt  to  lay  all 
such  considerations  aside,  and  to  look  into  the  con- 
troversy with  cool  and  rigid  impartiality,  we  shall 
find  it  very  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  con- 
clusion. There  are  two  questions  to  be  decided.  In 
advancing  their  conflicting  claims  to  the  English 
crown,  was  it  Elizabeth  or  Mary  that  was  in  the 
right?  If  Elizabeth  was  right,  were  the  measures 
which  she  resorted  to  to  secure  her  own  rights,  and 
to  counteract  Mary's  pretensions,  politically  justifiable  ? 
We  do  not  propose  to  add  our  own  to  the  hundred 
decisions  which  various  writers  have  given  to  this 
question,  but  only  to  narrate  the  facts,  and  leave  each 
reader  to  come  to  his  own  conclusions. 

The  foundation  of  the  long  and  dreadful  quarrel 
between  these  royal  cousins  was,  as  has  been  already 
remarked,  their  consanguinity,  which  made  them  both 
competitors  for  the  same  throne;  and  as  that  throne 
was,  in  some  respects,  the    highest   and    most  powei- 


i'i8  QjJEEN  ELIZABETH  [1559 

ful  in  the  world,  it  is  not  surprising  that  two  such 
ambitious  women  should  be  eager  and  persevering  ir 
their  contest  for  it.  By  turning  to  the  genealogical 
table  on  page  5s,  where  a  view  is  presented  of  the 
royal  family  of  England  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  the 
reader  will  see  once  more  what  was  the  precise  re- 
lationship which  the  two  queens  bore  to  each  other 
and  to  the  succession.  By  this  table  it  is  very  evident 
that  Elizabeth  was  the  true  inheritor  of  the  crown, 
provided  it  were  admitted  that  she  was  the  lawful 
daughter  and  heir  of  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  this 
depended  on  the  question  of  the  validity  of  her 
father's  marriage  with  his  first  wife,  Catharine  of  Ara- 
gon;  for,  as  has  been  before  said,  he  was  married  to 
Anne  Boleyn  before  obtaining  any  thing  like  a  di- 
vorce from  Catharine;  consequently,  the  marriage 
with  Elizabeth's  mother  could  not  be  legally  valid, 
unless  that  with  Catharine  had  been  void  from  the 
beginning.  The  friends  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
maintained  that  it  was  not  thus  void,  and  that,  con- 
sequently, the  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn  was  null, 
that  Elizabeth,  therefore,  the  descendant  of  the  mar- 
riage, was  not,  legally  and  technically,  a  daughter  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  and,  consequently,  not  entitled  to 
inherit  his  crown;  and  that  the  crown,  of  right,  ought 
to  descend  to  the  next  heir,  that  is,  to  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  herself. 

Queen  Elizabeth's  friends  and  partisans  maintained, 


1559]     THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  119 

on  the  other  hand,  that  the  marriage  of  King  Henry 
with  Catharine  was  null  and  void  from  the  begin- 
ning, because  Catharine  had  been  before  the  wife  of 
his  brother.  The  circumstances  of  this  marriage  were 
very  curious  and  peculiar.  It  was  his  father's  work, 
and  not  his  own.  His  father  was  King  Henry  the 
Seventh.  Henry  the  Seventh  had  several  children, 
and  among  them  were  his  two  oldest  sons,  Arthur 
and  Henry.  When  Arthur  was  about  sixteen  years 
old,  his  father,  being  very  much  in  want  of  money, 
conceived  the  plan  of  replenishing  his  coffers  by  mar- 
rying his  son  to  a  rich  wife.  He  accordingly  con- 
tracted a  marriage  between  him  and  Catharine  of 
Aragon,  Catharine's  father  agreeing  to  pay  him  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns  as  her  dowry.  The  juve- 
nile bridegroom  enjoyed  the  honors  and  pleasures  of 
married  life  for  a  few  months,  and  then  died. 

This  event  was  a  great  domestic  calamity  to  the 
king,  not  because  he  mourned  the  loss  of  his  son, 
but  that  he  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  the  loss  of 
the  dowry.  By  the  law  and  usage  in  such  cases,  he 
was  bound  not  only  to  forego  the  payment  of  the 
other  half  of  the  dowry,  but  he  had  himself  no  right 
to  retain  the  half  that  he  had  already  received.  While 
his  son  lived,  being  a  minor,  the  father  might,  not 
improperly,  hold  the  money  in  his  son's  name;  but 
when  he  died  this  right  ceased,  and  as  Arthur  left  no 
child,  Henry  perceived   that    he  should   be  obliged   to 


I20  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1559 

pay  back  the  money.  To  avoid  this  unpleasant  ne- 
cessity, the  king  conceived  the  plan  of  marrying  the 
youthful  widow  again  to  his  second  boy,  Henry,  who 
was  about  a  year  younger  ^-han  Arthur,  and  he  made 
proposals  to  this  effect  to  the  King  of  Aragon. 

The  King  of  Aragon  made  no  objections  to  this 
proposal,  except  that  it,  was  a  thing  unheard  of  among 
Christian  nations,  or  heard  of  only  to  be  condemned, 
for  a  man  or  even  a  boy  to  marry  his  brother's 
widow.  All  laws,  human  and  divine,  were  clear  and 
absolute  against  this.  Still,  if  the  dispensation  of  the  • 
pope  could  be  obtained,  he  would  make  no  objection, 
Catharine  might  espouse  the  second  boy,  and  he  would 
allow  the  one  hundred  thousand  crowns  already 
paid  to  stand,  and  would  also  pay  the  other  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  dispensation  was  accordingly 
obtained,  and  every  thing  made  ready  for  the  m.ar- 
riage. 

Very  soon  after  this,  however,  and  before  the  new 
marriage  was  carried  into  effect.  King  Henry  the  Sev- 
enth died,  and. this  second  boy,  now  the  oldest  son, 
though  only  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  ascended  the 
throne  as  King  Henry  the  Eighth.  There  was  great  dis- 
cussion and  debate,  soon  after  his  accession,  whether 
the  marriage  which  his  father  had  arranged  should  pro- 
ceed. Some  argued  that  no  papal  dispensation  could 
authorize  or  justify  such  a  marriage.  Others  maintained 
that  a  papal  dispensation  could  legalize  any  thing;  for 


1559]      THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  121 

it  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  the  pope  has 
a  certain  discretionary  power  over  all  laws,  human  and 
divine,  under  the  authority  given  to  his  great  prede- 
cessor, the  Apostle  Peter,  by  the  words  of  Christ: 
"Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound 
in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth 
shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."*  Henry  seems  not  to  have 
puzzled  his  head  at  all  with  the  legal  question;  he 
wanted  to  have  the  young  widow  for  his  wife,  and 
he  settled  the  aflair  on  that  ground  alone.  They  were 
married. 

Catharine  was  a  faithful  and  dutiful  spouse;  but 
when,  at  last,  Henry  fell  in  love  with  Anne  Boleyn, 
he  made  these  old  difficulties  a  pretext  for  discarding 
her.  He  endeavored,  as  has  been  already  related,  to 
induce  the  papal  authorities  to  annul  their  dispensa- 
tion; because  they  would  not  do  it,  he  espoused  the 
Protestant  cause,  and  England,  as  a  nation,  seceded 
from  the  Catholic  communion.  The  ecclesiastical  and 
parliamentary  authorities  of  his  own  realm  then,  be- 
ing made  Protestant,  annulled  the  marriage,  and  thus 
Anne  Boleyn,  to  whom  he  had  previously  been  mar- 
ried by  a  private  ceremony,  became  legally  and  tech- 
nically his  wife.  If  this  annulling  of  his  first  marriage 
were  valid,  then  Elizabeth  was  his  heir  —  otherwise 
not;  for  if  the  pope's  dispensation  was  to  stand,  then 
Catharine  was   a   wife.     Anne    Boleyn   would   in   that 

♦Matthew,  xvi.,  19. 


122  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1550 

case,  of  course,  have  been  only  a  companion,  and 
Elizabeth,  claiming  through  her,  a  usurper. 

The  question,  thus,  was  very  complicated.  It 
branched  into  extensive  ramifications,  which  opened 
a  wide  field  of  debate,  and  led  to  endless  contro- 
versies. It  is  not  probable,  however,  that  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  or  her  friends,  gave  themselves  much 
trouble  about  the  legal  points  at  issue.  She  and  they 
were  all  Catholics,  and  it  was  sufficient  for  them  to 
know  that  the  Holy  Father  at  Rome  had  sanctioned 
the  marriage  of  Catharine,  and  that  that  marriage,  if 
allowed  to  stand,  made  her  the  Queen  of  England. 
She  was  at  this  time  in  France.  She  had  been  sent 
there  at  a  very  early  period  of  her  life,  to  escape  the 
troubles  of  her  native  land,  and  also  to  be  educated. 
She  was  a  gentle  and  beautiful  child,  and  as  she 
grew  up  amid  the  gay  scenes  and  festivities  of  Paris, 
she  became  a  very  great  favorite,  being  universally 
beloved.  She  married  at  length,  though  while  she 
was  ^stili  quite  young,  the  son  of  the  French  king. 
Her  young  husband  became  king  himself  soon  after- 
ward, on  account  of  his  father  being  killed  in  a 
very  remarkable  manner,  at  a  tournament;  and  thus 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots  before,  became  also  Queen  of 
France  now.  All  these  events,  passed  over  thus  very 
summarily  here,  are  narrated  in  full  detail  in  the  His- 
tory of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  pertaining  to  this  series. 

While    Mary  was   thus   residing   in    France   as  the 


1559]     THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  123 

wife  of  the  king,  she  was  surrounded  by  a  very  large 
and  influential  circle,  who  were  Catholics  like  her- 
self, and  who  were  also  enemies  of  Elizabeth  and  of 
England,  and  glad  to  find  any  pretext  for  disturbing 
her  reign.  These  persons  brought  forward  Mary's 
claim.  They  persuaded  Mary  that  she  was  fairly  en- 
titled to  the  English  crown.  They  awakened  hor 
youthful  ambition,  and  excited  strong  desires  in  her 
heart  to  attain  to  the  high  elevation  of  Queen  of 
England.  Mary  at  length  assumed  the  title  in  some 
of  her  official  acts,  and  combined  the  arms  of  England 
with  those  of  Scotland  in  the  escutcheons  with  which 
her  furniture  and  her  plate  were   emblazoned. 

When  Queen  Elizabeth  learned  that  Mary  was  ad- 
vancing such  pretensions  to  her  crown,  she  was  made 
very  uneasy  by  it.  There  was,  perhaps,  no  immedi- 
ate danger,  but  then  there  was  a  very  large  Catholic 
party  in  England,  and  they  would  naturally  espouse 
Mary's  cause,  and  they  might,  at  some  future  time, 
gather  strength  so  as  to  make  Elizabeth  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.  She  accordingly  sent  an  embassador  over 
to  France  to  remonstrate  against  Mary's  advancing 
these  pretensions.  But  she  could  get  no  satisfactory 
reply.  Mary  would  not  disavow  her  claim  to  Eliza- 
beths  crown,  nor  would  she  directly  assert  it.  Eliza- 
beth, then,  knowing  that  all  her  danger  lay  in  the 
power  and  influence  of  her  own  Catholic  subjects, 
went   to  work,  very  cautiously  and    warily,  but   in   a 


124  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1559 

very  extended  and  efficient  way,  to  establish  the  Ref- 
ormation, and  to  undermine  and  destroy  all  traces  of 
Catholic  power.  She  proceeded  in  this  work  with 
great  circumspection,  so  as  not  to  excite  opposition 
or  alarm. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Protestant  cause  was  mak- 
ing progress  in  Scotland  too,  by  its  own  inherent  en 
ergies,  and  against  the  influence  of  the  government. 
Finally,  the  Scotch  Protestants  organized  themselves, 
and  commenced  an  open  rebellion  against  the  regent 
whom  Mary  had  left  in  power  while  she  was  away. 
They  sent  to  Elizabeth  to  come  and  aid  them.  Mary 
and  her  friends  in  France  sent  French  troops  to  assist 
the  government.  Elizabeth  hesitated  very  much 
whether  to  comply  with  the  request  of  the  rebels.  It 
is  very  dangerous  for  a  sovereign  to  countenance  re- 
bellion in  any  way.  Then  she  shrank,  too,  from  the 
expense  which  she  foresaw  that  such  an  attempt 
would  involve.  To  fit  out  a  fleet  and  to  levy  and 
equip  an  army,  and  to  continue  the  forces  thus  raised 
in  action,  during  a  long  and  uncertain  campaign, 
would  cost  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  Elizabeth  was 
constitutionally  economical  and  frugal.  But  then,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  she  deliberated  upon  the  affair  long 
and  anxiously,  both  alone  and  with  her  council,  she 
thought  that,  if  she  should  so  far  succeed  as  to  get 
the  government  of  Scotland  into  her  power,  she  could 
compel    Mary    to    renounce    forever   all   claims  to  the 


1560]      THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  125 

English  crown,  by  threatening   her,  if  she  would  not 
do  it,  with  the  loss  of  her  own. 

Finally  she  decided  on  making  the  attempt.  Cecil, 
her  wise  and  prudent  counselor,  strongly  advised  it. 
He  said  it  was  far  better  to  carry  on  the  contest  with 
Mary  and  the  French  in  one  of  their  countries  than 
in  her  own.  She  began  to  make  preparations.  Mary 
and  the  French  government,  on  learning  this,  were 
alarmed  in  their  turn.  They  sent  word  to  Elizabeth 
that  for  her  to  render  countenance  and  aid  to  rebels 
in  arms  against  their  sovereign,  in  a  sister  kingdom, 
was  wholly  unjustifiable,  and  they  remonstrated  most 
earnestly  against  it.  Besides  making  this  remonstrance, 
they  offered,  as  an  inducement  of  another  kind,  that 
if  she  would  refrain  from  taking  any  part  in  the  con- 
test in  Scotland,  they  would  restore  to  her  the  great 
town  and  citadel  of  Calais,  which  her  sister  had 
been  so  much  grieved  to  lose.  To  this  Elizabeth  re- 
plied that,  so  long  as  Mary  adhered  to  her  pretensions 
to  the  English  crown,  she  should  be  compelled  to  take 
energetic  measures  to  protect  herself  from  them;  and 
as  to  Calais,  the  possession  of  a  fishing  town  on  a 
foreign  coast  was  of  no  moment  to  her  in  compari- 
son with  the  peace  and  security  of  her  own  realm. 
This  answer  did  not  tend  to  close  the  breach.  Be- 
sides the  bluntness  of  the  refusal  of  their  offer,  the 
French  were  irritated  and  vexed  to  hear  their  famous 
sea-port  spoken  of  so  contemptuously. 


126  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1560 

Elizabeth  accordingly  fitted  out  a  fleet  and  an 
army,  and  sent  them  northward.  A  French  fleet,  with 
re-enforcements  for  Mary's  adherents  in  this  contest, 
set  sail  from  France  at  about  the  same  time.  It  was 
a  very  important  question  to  be  determined  which  of 
these  two  fleets  should  get  first  upon  the  stage  of 
action. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Protestant  party  in  Scotland, 
or  the  rebels,  as  Queen  Mary  and  her  government 
called  them,  had  had  very  hard  work  to  maintain 
their  ground.  There  was  a  large  French  force  al- 
ready there,  and  their  co-operation  and  aid  made  the 
government  too  strong  for  the  insurgents  to  resist. 
But,  when  Elizabeth's  English  army  crossed  the 
frontier,  the  face  of  affairs  was  changed.  The  French 
forces  retreated  in  their  turn.  The  English  army  ad- 
vanced. The  Scotch  Protestants  came  forth  from  the 
recesses  of  the  Highlands  to  which  they  had  retreated, 
and,  drawing  closer  and  closer  around  the  French  and 
the  government  forces,  they  hemmed  them  in  more 
and  more  narrowly,  and  at  last  shut  them  up  in  the 
ancient  town  of  Leith,  to  which  they  retreated  in 
search  of  a  temporary  shelter,  until  the  French  fleet, 
with  re-enforcements,  should  arrive. 

The  town  of  Leith  is  on  the  shore  of  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  not  far  from  Edinburgh.  It  is  the  port  or 
landing-place  of  Edinburgh,  in  approaching  it  from 
the  sea.     It  is  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  firth,  and 


1560]      THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  127 

Edinburgh  stands  on  higher  land,  about  two  miles 
south  of  it.  Leith  was  strongly  fortified  in  those  days, 
and  the  French  army  felt  very  secure  there,  though 
yet  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  which 
was  to  release  them.  The  English  army  advanced  in 
the  mean  time,  eager  to  get  possession  of  the  city 
before  the  expected  succor  should  arrive.  The  Eng- 
lish made  an  assault  upon  the  walls.  The  French, 
with  desperate  bravery,  repelled  it.  The  French  made 
a  sortie;  that  is,  they  rushed  out  of  a  sudden  and 
attacked  the  English  lines.  The  English  concentrated 
their  forces  at  the  point  attacked,  and  drove  them 
back  again.  These  struggles  continued,  both  sides 
very  eager  for  victory,  and  both  watching  all  the 
time  for  the  appearance  of  a  fleet  in  the  offmg. 

At  length,  one  day,  a  cloud  of  white  sails  ap- 
peared rounding  the  point  of  land  which  forms  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  firth,  and  the  French  were 
thrown  at  once  into  the  highest  state  of  exultation 
and  excitement.  But  this  pleasure  was  soon  turned 
into  disappointment  and  chagrin  by  finding  that  it 
was  Elizabeth's  fleet  and  not  theirs,  which  was 
coming  into  view.  This  ended  the  contest.  The 
French  fleet  never  arrived.  It  was  dispersed  and  de- 
stroyed by  a  storm.  The  besieged  army  sent  out  a 
flag  of  truce,  proposing  to  suspend  hostilities  until 
the  terms  of  a  treaty  could  be  agreed  upon.  The 
truce    was   granted.     Commissioners    were    appointed 


128  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1560 

on  each  side.  These  commissioners  met  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  agreed  upon  the  terms  of  a  permanent 
peace.  The  treaty,  which  is  called  in  history  the 
Treaty  of  Edinburgh,  was  solemnly  signed  by  the 
commissioners  appointed  to  make  it,  and  then  trans- 
mitted to  England  and  to  France  to  be  ratified  by 
the  respective  queens.  Queen  Elizabeth's  forces  and 
the  French  forces  were  then  both,  as  the  treaty  pro- 
vided, immediately  withdrawn.  The  dispute,  too,  be- 
tween the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics  in  Scotland  was 
also  settled,  though  ii  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose 
in  this  narrative  to  explain  particularly  in  what  way. 

There  was  one  point,  however,  in  the  stipulations 
of  this  treaty  which  is  of  essential  importance  in 
this  narrative,  and  that  is,  that  it  was  agreed  that 
Mary  should  relinquish  all  claims  whatever  to  the 
English  crown  so  long  as  Elizabeth  lived.  This, 
in  fact,  was  the  essentia!  point  in  the  whole  trans- 
action. Mary,  it  is  true,  was  not  present  to  agree  to 
it;  but  the  commissioners  agreed  to  it  in  her  name, 
and  it  was  stipulated  that  Mary  should  solemnly  rat- 
ify the  treaty  as  soon  as  it  could  be  sent  to  her. 

But  Mary  would  not  ratify  it, —  at  least  so  far  as 
this  last  article  was  concerned.  She  said  that  she 
had  no  intention  of  doing  any  thing  to  molest  Eliza- 
beth in  her  possession  of  the  throne,  but  that  as  to 
herself,  whatever  rights  might  legally  and  justly  be- 
long   to    her,   she    could    not    consent    to   sign    them 


[560]     THE  WAR  IN  SCOTLAND  129 

away.  The  other  articles  of  the  treaty  had,  however, 
in  the  mean  time,  brought  the  war  to  a  close,  and 
both  the  French  and  English  armies  were  withdrawn. 
Neither  party  had  any  inclination  to  renew  the  con- 
flict; but  yet,  so  far  as  the  great  question  between 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  was  concerned,  the  difficulty  was 
as  far  from  being  settled  as  ever.  In  fact,  it  was  in 
a  worse  position  than  before;  for,  in  addition  to  her 
other  grounds  of  complaint  against  Mary,  Elizabeth 
now  charged  her  with  dishonorably  refusing  to  be 
bound  by  a  compact  which  had  been  solemnly  made 
in  her  name,  by  agents  whom  she  had  fully  author- 
ized to  make  it. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mary's  husband,  the 
King  of  France,  died,  and,  after  enduring  various  trials 
and  troubles  in  France,  Mary  concluded  to  return  to 
her  own  realm.  She  sent  to  Elizabeth  to  get  a  safe- 
conduct —  a  sort  of  permission  allowing  her  to  pass 
unmolested  through  the  English  seas.  Elizabeth  re- 
fused to  grant  it  unless  Mary  would  first  ratify  the 
Treaty  of  Edinburgh.  This  Mary  would  not  do,  but 
undertook,  rather,  to  get  home  without  the  permis- 
sion. Elizabeth  sent  ships  to  intercept  her;  but 
Mary's  little  squadron,  when  they  approached  the 
shore,  were  hidden  by  a  fog,  and  so  she  got  safe  to 
land.  After  this  there  was  quiet  between  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  for  many  years,  but  no  peace. 

M.  of  H.— 16-9 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Elizabeth's  Lovers. 

Claimants  to  the  throne. —  General  character  of  Elizabeth's  reign.— Eliza- 
beth's suitors. —  Their  motives. —  Philip  of  Spain  proposes. —  His  strange 
conduct. —  Elizabeth  declines  Philip's  proposal. — Her  reasons  for  so  do- 
ing.—  The  English  people  wish  Elizabeth  to  be  married. —  Petition  of 
the  Parliament. —  Elizabeth's  "gracious"  reply. —  Elizabeth  attacked 
with  the  small-pox. —  Alarm  of  the  country. —  The  Earl  of  Leicester. —  His 
character. —  Services  of  Cecil.— Elizabeth's  attachment  to  I,eicester. — 
Leicester's  wife. —  Her  mysterious  death. —  Leicester  hated  by  the  peo- 
ple.—  Various  rumors. —  The  torch-light  conversation. —  The  servant's 
quarrel. —  Splendid  style  of  living. —  Public  ceremonies. —  Elizabeth 
recommends  Leicester  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. —  Mary  marries  Darn- 
ley. —  Elizabeth's  visit  to  Kenilworth. —  Leicester's  marriage. —  Eliza- 
beth sends  him  to  prison. —  Prosperity  of  Elizabeth's  reign.— The  Duke 
of  Anjou. —  Catharine  de  Medici.—  She  proposes  her  son  to  Elizabeth.— 
Quarrels  of  the  favorites.—  The  shot—  The  people  oppose  the  match.— 
The  arrangements  completed.— The  match  broken  ofif.— The  Duke's 
rage.— The  Duke's  departure.— The  farewell. 

ELIZABETH  was  ROW  sccurely  established  upon  her 
throne.  It  is  true  that  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
had  not  renounced  her  pretensions,  but  there 
was  no  immediate  prospect  of  her  making  any  at- 
tempt to  realize  them,  and  very  little  hope  for  her  that 
she  would  be  successful  if  she  were  to  undertake  it. 
There  were  other  claimants,  it  is  true,  but  their  claims 
were  more  remote  and  doubtful  than  Mary's.  These 
conflicting  pretensions  were  likely  to  make  the  country 
some  trouble  after  Elizabeth's  death,  but  there  was 
(130) 


1560J  ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  131 

very  sUght  probability  that  they  would  sensibly  molest 
Elizabeth's  possession  of  the  throne  during  her  life- 
time, though  they  caused  her  no  little  anxiety. 

The  reign  which  Elizabeth  thus  commenced  was 
one  of  the  longest,  most  brilliant,  and,  in  many  re- 
spects, the  most  prosperous  in  the  whole  series  pre- 
sented to  our  view  in  the  long  succession  of  English 
sovereigns.  Elizabeth  continued  a  queen  for  forty- 
five  years,  during  all  which  time  she  remained  a  sin- 
gle lady;  and  she  died,  at  last,  a  venerable  maiden, 
seventy  years  of  age. 

It  was  not  for  want  of  lovers,  or,  rather  of  ad- 
mirers and  suitors,  that  Elizabeth  lived  single  all  her 
days.  During  the  first  twenty  years  of  her  reign,  one 
half  of  her  history  is  a  history  of  matrimonial  schemes 
and  negotiations.  It  seemed  as  if  all  the  marriageable 
princes  and  potentates  of  Europe  were  seized,  one 
after  another,  with  a  desire  to  share  her  seat  upon 
the  English  throne.  They  tried  every  possible  means 
to  win  her  consent.  They  dispatched  embassadors; 
they  opened  long  negotiations;  they  sent  her  ship- 
loads of  the  most  expensive  presents;  some  of  the  no- 
bles of  high  rank  in  her  own  realm  expended  their 
vast  estates,  and  reduced  themselves  to  poverty,  in 
vain  attempts  to  please  her.  Elizabeth,  like  any  other 
woman,  loved  these  attentions.  They  pleased  her 
vanity,  and  gratified  those  instinctive  impulses  of  the 
female  heart  by  which  woman   is  fitted  for  happiness 


132  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1560 

and  love.  Elizabeth  encouraged  the  hopes  of  those 
who  addressed  her  sufficiently  to  keep  them  from 
giving  up  in  despair  and  abandoning  her.  And  in  one 
or  two  cases  she  seemed  to  come  very  near  yielding. 
But  it  always  happened  that,  when  the  time  arrived  in 
which  a  final  decision  must  be  made,  ambition  and 
desire  of  power  proved  stronger  than  love,  and  she 
preferred  continuing  to  occupy  her  lofty  position  by 
herself,  alone. 

Phihp  of  Spain,  the  husband  of  her  sister  Mary, 
was  the  first  of  these  suitors.  He  had  seen  Elizabeth 
a  good  deal  in  England  during  his  residence  there, 
and  had  even  taken  her  part  in  her  difficulties  with 
Mary,  and  had  exerted  his  influence  to  have  her  re- 
leased from  her  confinement.  As  soon  as  Mary  died 
and  Elizabeth  was  proclaimed,  one  of  her  first  acts 
was,  as  was  very  proper,  to  send  an  embassador  to 
Flanders  to  inform  the  bereaved  husband  of  his  loss. 
It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  degree  and  kind  of 
affection  that  Philip  had  borne  to  his  departed  wife, 
that  immediately  on  receiving  intelligence  of  her  death 
by  Elizabeth's  embassador,  he  sent  a  special  dispatch 
to  his  own  embassador  in  London  to  make  a  propo- 
sal to  Elizabeth  to  take  him  for  her  husband! 

Elizabeth  decided  very  soon  to  decline  this  propo- 
sal. She  had  ostensible  reasons,  and  real  reasons  for 
this.  The  chief  ostensible  reason  was,  that  Philip 
was  so  inveterately   hated   by    all  the  English  people. 


1560]         ELIZABETH'S  LOVERS  133 

and  Elizabeth  was  extremely  desirous  of  being  popu- 
lar. She  relied  solely  on  the  loyalty  and  faithfulness 
of  her  Protestant  subjects  to  maintain  her  rights  to 
the  succession, .  and  she  knew  that  if  she  displeased 
them  by  such  an  unpopular  Catholic  marriage,  her 
reliance  upon  them  must  be  very  much  weakened. 
They  might  even  abandon  her  entirely.  The  reason, 
therefore,  that  she  assigned  publicly  was,  that  Philip 
was  a  Catholic,  and  that  the  connection  could  not, 
on  that  account,  be   agreeable   to  the    English  people. 

Among  the  real  reasons  was  one  of  a  very  pecu- 
liar nature.  It  happened  that  there  was  an  objection 
to  her  marriage  with  Philip  similar  to  the  one  urged 
against  that  of  Henry  with  Catharine  of  Aragon. 
Catharine  had  been  the  wife  of  Henry's  brother.  Philip 
had  been  the  husband  of  Elizabeth's  sister.  Now 
Phihp  had  offered  to  procure  the  pope's  dispensation, 
by  which  means  this  difficulty  would  be  surmounted. 
But  then  all  the  world  would  say,  that  if  this  dispen- 
sation could  legalize  the  latter  marriage,  the  former 
must  have  been  legalized  by  it,  and  this  would  de- 
stroy the  marriage  of  Anne  Boleyn,  and  with  it  all 
Elizabeth's  claims  to  the  succession.  She  could  not, 
then,  marry  Philip,  without,  by  the  very  act,  effec- 
tually undermining  all  her  own  rights  to  the  throne. 
She  was  far  too  subtle  and  wary  to  stumble  into  such 
a  pitfall  as  that. 

Elizabeth  rejected  this  and  some   other  oflers.  and 


134  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1560 

one  or  two  years  passed  away.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  people  of  the  country,  though  they  had  no  wish 
to  have  her  marry  such  a  stern  and  heartless  tyrant  as 
PhiHp  of  Spain,  were  very  uneasy  at  the  idea  of  her 
not  being  married  at  all.  Her  life  would,  of  course, 
in  due  time,  come  to  an  end,  and  it  was  of  immense 
importance  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  realm 
that,  after  her  death,  there  should  be  no  doubt  about 
the  succession.  If  she  were,  to  be  married  and  leave 
children,  they  would  succeed  to  the  throne  without 
question;  but  if  she  were  to  die  single  and  childless, 
the  result  would  be,  they  feared,  that  the  Catholics 
wauld  espouse  the  cause  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and 
the  Protestants  that  of  some  Protestant  descendant  of 
Henry  Vll.,  and  thus  the  country  be  involved  in  all 
the  horrors  of  a  protracted  civil  war. 

The  House  of  Commons  in  those  days  was  a  very 
humble  council,  convened  to  discuss  and  settle  mere 
internal  and  domestic  affairs,  and  standing  at  a  vast 
distance  from  the  splendor  and  power  of  royalty,  to 
which  it  looked  up  with  the  profoundest  reverence 
and  awe.  The  Commons,  at  the  close  of  one  of  their 
sessions,  ventured,  in  a  very  timid  and  cautious  man- 
ner, to  send  a  petition  to  the  queen,  urging  her  to 
consent,  for  the  sake  of  the  future  peace  of  the  realm, 
and  the  welfare  of  her  subjects,  to  accept  of  a 
husband.  Few  single  persons  are  offended  at  a  rec- 
ommendation   of   marriage,  if  properly   offered,    from 


1560]  ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  135 

whatever  quarter  it  may  come.  The  queen,  in  this 
instance,  returned  what  was  called  a  very  gracious 
reply.  She,  however,  very  decidedly  refused  the  re- 
quest. She  said  that,  as  they  had  been  very  respect- 
ful in  the  form  of  their  petition,  and  as  they  had 
confined  it  to  general  terms,  without  presuming  to 
suggest  either  a  person  or  a  time,  she  would  not  take 
oflFense  at  their  well-intended  suggestion,  but  that  she 
had  no  design  of  ever  being  married.  At  her  coro- 
nation, she  was  married,  she  said,  to  her  people,  and 
the  wedding  ring  was  upon  her  finger  still.  Her 
people  were  the  objects  of  all  her  affection  and  re- 
gard. She  should  never  have  any  other  spouse.  She 
said  she  should  be  well  contented  to  have  it  en- 
graved upon  her  tomb-stone,  "Here  lies  a  queen  who 
lived  and  died  a  virgin." 

This  answer  silenced  the  Commons,  but  it  did  not 
settle  the  question  in  the  public  mind.  Cases  often 
occur  of  ladies  saying  very  positively  that  they  shall 
never  consent  to  be  married,  and  yet  afterward  alter- 
ing their  minds;  and  many  ladies,  knowing  how 
frequently  this  takes  place,  sagaciously  conclude  that, 
whatever  secret  resolutions  they  may  form,  they  will 
be  silent  about  them,  lest  they  get  into  a  position  from 
which  it  will  be  afterward  awkward  to  retreat.  The 
princes  of  the  Continent  and  the  nobles  of  England 
paid  no  regard  to  Elizabeth's  declaration,  but  continued 
to  do  all  in  their  power  to  obtain  her  hand. 


136  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [156. 

One  or  two  years  afterward  Elizabeth  was  attacked 
with  the  small-pox,  and  for  a  time  was  dangerously 
sick.  In  fact,  for  some  days  her  life  was  despaired 
of,  a'nd  the  country  was  thrown  into  a  great  state  of 
confusion  and  dismay.  Parties  began  to  form — the 
Catholics  for  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  Protes- 
tants for  the  family  of  Jane  Grey.  Every  thing  por- 
tended a  dreadful  contest.  Elizabeth,  however,  recov- 
ered; but  the  country  had  been  so  much  alarmed  at 
their  narrow  escape,  that  Parliament  ventured  once 
more  to  address  the  queen  on  the  subject  of  her  mar- 
riage. They  begged  that  she  would  either  consent  to 
that  measure,  or,  if  she  was  finally  determined  not 
to  do  that,  that  she  would  cause  a  law  to  be  passed, 
or  an  edict  to  be  promulgated,  deciding  beforehand 
who  was  really  to  succeed  to  the  throne  in  the  event 
of  her  decease. 

Elizabeth  would  not  do  either.  Historians  have 
speculated  a  great  deal  upon  her  motives;  all  that  is 
certain  is  the  fact,  she  would  not  do  either. 

But,  though  Elizabeth  thus  resisted  all  the  plans 
formed  for  giving  her  a  husband,  she  had,  in  her  own 
court,  a  famous  personal  favorite,  who  has  always 
been  considered  as  in  some  sense  her  lover.  His 
name  was  originally  Robert  Dudley,  though  she  made 
him  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  he  is  commonly  designated 
in  history  by  this  latter  name.  He  was  a  son  of  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  was  the  leader  of  the 


1560]         ELIZABETH'S  LOVERS  137 

plot  for  placing  Lady  Jane  Grey  upon  the  throne  in 
the  time  of  Mary.  He  was  a  very  elegant  and  accom- 
plished man,  and  young,  though  already  married. 
Elizabeth  advanced  him  to  high  offices  and  honors 
very  early  in  her  reign,  and  kept  him  much  at  court. 
She  made  him  her  Master  of  Horse,  but  she  did  not 
bestow  upon  him  much  real  power.  Cecil  was  her 
great  counselor  and  minister  of  state.  He  was  a  cool, 
sagacious,  wary  man,  entirely  devoted  to  Elizabeth's 
interests,  and  to  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  the  realm. 
He  was  at  this  time,  as  has  already  been  stated,  forty 
years  of  age,  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  older  than 
Elizabeth,  Elizabeth  showed  great  sagacity  in  select- 
ing such  a  minister,  and  great  wisdom  in  keeping 
him  in  power  so  long.  He  remained  in  her  service 
all  his  life,  and  died  at  last,  only  a  few  years  before 
Elizabeth,  when  he  was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age. 

Dudley,  on  the  other  hand,  v/as  iust  about  Eliza- 
beth's own  age.  In  fact,  it  is  said  by  some  of  the 
chronicles  of  the  times  that  he  was  born  on  the  same 
day  and  hour  with  her.  However  this  may  be.  he  be- 
came a  great  personal  favorite,  and  Elizabeth  evinced 
a  degree  and  kind  of  attachment  to  him  which  sub- 
jected her  to  a  great  deal  of  censure  and  reproach. 

She  could  not  be  thinking  of  him  for  her  husband, 
it  would  seem,  for  he  was  already  married.  Just 
about  this  tim.e,  however,  a  mysterious  circumstance 
occurred,  which   produced  a  great   deal  of  excitement. 


138  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1560 

and  has  ever  since  marked  a  very  important  era  in  the 
history  of  Leicester  and  Elizabeth's  attachment.  It  was 
the  sudden  and  very  singular  death  of  Leicester's  wife. 
Leicester  had,  among  his  other  estates,  a  lonely  man- 
sion in  Berkshire,  about  fifty  miles  west  of  London.  It 
was  called  Cumnor  House.  Leicester's  wife  was  sent 
there,  no  one  knew  why;  she  went  under  the  charge 
of  a  gentleman  who  was  one  of  Leicester's  dependents, 
and  entirely  devoted  to  his  will.  The  house,  too,  was 
occupied  by  a  man  who  had  the  character  of  being 
ready  for  any  deed  which  might  be  required  of  him 
by  his  master.     The  name  of  Leicester's  wife  was  Amy 

Robsart. 

In  a  short  time  news  came  to  London  that  the 
unhappy  woman  was  killed  by  a  fall  down  stairs  ! 
The  instantaneous  suspicion  darted  at  once  into  every 
one's  mind  that  she  had  been  murdered.  Rumors  cir- 
culated all  around  the  place  where  the  death  had  oc- 
curred, that  she  had  been  murdered.  A  conscientious 
clergyman  of  the  neighborhood  sent  an  account  of 
the  case  to  London,  to  the  queen's  ministers,  stating 
the  facts,  and  urging  the  queen  to  order  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  affair,  but  nothing  was  ever  done.  It  has 
accordingly  been  the  general  belief  of  mankind  since 
that  time,  that  the  unprincipled  courtier  destroyed  his 
wife  in  the  vain  hope  of  becoming  afterward  the  hus- 
band of  the  queen.  ^ 

The    people    of  England    were    greatly  incensed  at 


1560]  ELIZABETH'S  LOVERS  139 

this  transaction.  They  had  hated  Leicester  before,  and 
they  hated  him  now  more  inveterately  still.  Favor- 
ites are  very  generally  hated;  royal  favorites  always. 
He,  however,  grew  more  and  more  intimate  with  the 
queen,  and  every  body  feared  that  he  v/as  going  to 
be  her  husband.  Their  conduct  was  watched  very 
closely  by  all  the  great  world,  and,  as  is  usual  in 
such  cases,  a  thousand  circumstances  and  occurrences 
were  reported  busily  from  tongue  to  tongue,  which 
the  actors  in  them  doubtless  supposed  passed  un- 
observed or  were  forgotten. 

One  night,  for  instance,  Queen  Elizabeth,  having 
supped  with  Dudley,  was  going  home  in  her  chair, 
lighted  by  torch-bearers.  At  th^  present  day,  all  Lon- 
don is  lighted  brilliantly  at  midnight  with  gas,  and 
ladies  go  home  from  their  convivial  and  pleasure  as- 
semblies in  luxurious  carriages,  in  which  they  are 
rocked  gently  along  through  broad  and  magnificent 
avenues,  as  bright,  almost,  as  day.  Then,  however, 
it  was  very  different.  The  lady  was  borne  slowly 
along  through  narrow,  and  dingy,  and  dangerous 
streets,  with  a  train  of  torches  before  and  behind  her, 
dispelling  the  darkness  a  moment  with  their  glare, 
and  then  leaving  it  more  deep  and  somber  than  ever. 
On  the  night  of  which  we  are  speaking,  Elizabeth, 
feeling  in  good  humor,  began  to  talk  with  some  of 
the  torch-bearers  on  the  way.  They  were  Dudley's 
men,  and  Elizabeth  began  to  praise  their  master.     She 


I40  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [156c 

said  to  one  of  them,  among  other  things,  that  she 
was  going  to  raise  him  to  a  higher  position  than  any 
of  his  name  had  ever  borne  before.  Now,  as  Dudley's 
father  was  a  duke,  which  title  denotes  the  highest 
rank  of  the  English  nobility,  the  man  inferred  that  the 
queen's  meaning  was  that  she  intended  to  marry  him, 
and  thus  make  him  a  sort  of  king.  The  man  told 
the  story  boastingly  to  one  of  the  servants  of  Lord 
Arundel,  who  was  also  a  suitor  of  the  queen's.  The 
servants,  each  taking  the  part  of  his  master  in  the 
rivalry,  quarreled.  Lord  Arundel  s  man  said  that  he 
wished  that  Dudley  had  been  hung  with  his  father, 
or  else  that  somebody  would  shoot  him  in  the  street 
v/iih  a  dag.  A  dag  was,  in  the  language  "^t  those 
days,  the  name  for  a  pistol. 

Time  moved  on,  and  though  Leicester  seemed  to 
become  more  and  more  a  favorite,  the  plan  of  his 
being  married  to  Elizabeth,  if  any  such  were  enter- 
tained by  either  party,  appeared  to  come  no  nearer 
to  an  accomplishment.  Elizabeth  lived  in  great  state 
and  splendor,  sometimes  residing  in  her  palaces  in 
or  near  London,  and  sometimes  making  royal  prog- 
resses about  her  dominions.  Dudley,  together  with 
the  other  prominent  members  of  her  court,  accom- 
panied her  on  these  excursions,  and  obviously  en- 
joyed a  very  high  degree  of  personal  favor.  She 
encouraged,  at  the  same  time,  her  other  suitors,  so 
that  on  all  the  great  public  occasions  of  state,  at   the 


1561]         ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  141 

tilts  and  tournaments,  at  the  plays, —  which,  by-the- 
way,  in  those  days,  were  performed  in  the  churches, 
—  on  all  the  royal  progresses  and  grand  receptions  at 
cities,  castles,  and  universities,  the  lady  queen  was 
surrounded  always  by  royal  or  noble  beaux,  who 
made  her  presents,  and  paid  her  a  thousand  compli- 
ments, and  offered  her  gallant  attentions  without 
number, —  all  prompted  by  ambition  in  the  guise  of 
love.  They  smiled  upon  the  queen  with  a  perpetual 
sycophancy,  and  gnashed  their  teeth  secretly  upon 
each  other  with  a  hatred  which,  unlike  the  pre- 
tended love  was  at  least  honest  and  sincere.  Leices- 
ter was  the  gayest,  most  accomplished,  and  most 
favored  of  them  all,  and  the  rest  accordingly  com- 
bined and  agreed  in  hating  him  more  than  they  did 
each  other. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  however,  never  really  admitted 
that  she  had  any  design  of  making  Leicester,  or 
Dudley,  as  he  is  indiscriminately  called,  her  husband, 
in  fact,  at  one  time  she  recommended  him  to  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  for  a  husband.  After  Mary  returned 
to  Scotland,  the  two  queens  were,  for  a  time,  on 
good  terms,  as  professed  friends,  though  they  were, 
in  fact,  all  the  time,  most  inveterate  and  implacable 
foes;  but  each,  knowing  hov/  much  injury  the  other 
might  do  her,  wished  to  avoid  exciting  any  unneces- 
sary hostility.  Mary,  particularly,  as  she  found  she 
could  not  get  possession  of   the   English   throne    dur- 


142  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1562 

ing  Elizabeth's  life-time,  concluded  to  try  to  conciliate 
her,  in  hopes  to  persuade  her  to  acknowledge,  by 
act  of  Parliament,  her  right  to  the  succession  after 
her  death.  So  she  used  to  confer  with  Elizabeth  on 
the  subject  of  her  own  marriage,  and  to  ask  her  ad- 
vice about  it.  Elizabeth  did  not  wish  to  have  Mary 
married  at  all,  and  so  she  always  proposed  some- 
body who  she  knew  would  be  out  of  the  question. 
She  at  one  time  proposed  Leicester,  and  for  a  time 
seemed  quite  in  earnest  about  it,  especially  so  long 
as  Mary  seemed  averse  to  it.  At  length,  however, 
when  Mary,  in  order  to  test  her  sincerity,  seemed 
inclined  to  yield,  Elizabeth  retreated  in  her  turn,  and 
withdrew  her  proposals.  Mary  then  gave  up  the 
hope  of  satisfying  Elizabeth  in  any  way  and  married 
Lord  Darnley  without  her  consent. 

Elizabeth's  regard  for  Dudley,  however,  still  con- 
tinued. She  made  him  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  granted 
him  the  magnificent  Castle  of  Kenilworth,  with  a  large 
estate  adjoining  and  surrounding  it;  the  rents  of  the 
lands  giving  him  a  princely  income,  and  enabling  him 
to  live  in  almost  royal  state.  Queen  Elizabeth  visited 
him  frequently  in  this  castle.  One  of  these  visits  is 
very  minutely  described  by  the  chroniclers  of  the  times. 
The  earl  made  the  most  expansive  and  extraordinary 
preparations  for  the  reception  and  entertainment  of  the 
queen  and  her  retinue  on  this  occasion.  The  moat, 
— which  is  a  broad  canal  filled  with  water  surround- 


1577]  ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  143 

ing  the  castle, —  had  a  floating  island  upon  it,  with  a 
fictitious  personage  whom  they  called  the  lady  of  the 
lake  upon  the  island,  who  sang  a  song  in  praise  of 
Elizabeth  as  she  passed  the  bridge.  There  was  also 
an  artificial  dolphin  swimming  upon  the  water,  with 
a  band  of  musicians  within  it.  As  the  queen  ad- 
vanced across  the  park,  men  and  women,  in  strange 
disguises,  came  out  to  meet  her,  and  to  offer  her 
salutations  and  praises.  One  was  dressed  as  a  sibyl, 
another  like  an  American  savage,  and  a  third,  who 
was  concealed,  represented  an  echo.  This  visit  was 
continued  for  nineteen  days,  and  the  stories  of  the 
splendid  entertainments  provided  for  the  company 
—  the  plays,  the  bear-baitings,  the  fireworks,  the  hunt- 
ings, the  mock  fights,  the  feastings  and  revelries  —  filled 
all  Europe  at  the  time,  and  have  been  celebrated  by 
historians  and  story-tellers  ever  since.  The  Castle  of 
Kenilworth  is  now  a  very  magnificent  heap  of  ruins, 
and  is  explored  every  year  by  thousands  of  visitors 
from  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

Leicester,  if  he  ever  really  entertained  any  serious 
designs  of  being  Elizabeth's  husband,  at  last  gave  up 
his  hopes,  and  married  another  woman.  This  lady 
had  been  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Essex.  Her  husband 
died  very  suddenly  and  mysteriously  just  before  Lei- 
cester married  her.  Leicester  kept  the  marriage  a 
secret  for  some  time,  and  when  it  came  at  last  to 
the  queen's    knowledge    she   was    exceedingly    angry. 


144  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1578 

She  had  him  arrested  and  sent  to  prison.  However, 
she  gradually  recovered  frorn.  her  fit  of  resentment, 
and  by  degrees  restored  him  to  her  favor  again. 

Twenty  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign  thus  passed  away, 
and  no  one  of  all  her  suitors  had  succeeded  in  oK 
taining  her  hand.  Ail  this  time  her  government  had 
been  administered  with  much  efficiency  and  power.  All 
Europe  had  been  in  great  commotion  during  almost 
the  whole  period,  on  account  of  the  terrible  conflicts 
which  were  raging  between  the  Catholics  and  the 
Protestants,  each  party  having  been  doing  its  utmost 
to  exterminate  and  destroy  the  other.  Elizabeth  and 
her  government  took  part,  very  frequently  in  these 
contests;  sometimes  by  negotiations,  and  sometimes 
by  fleets  and  armies,  but  always  sagaciously  and  cau- 
tiously, and  generally  with  great  effect.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  the  queen,  being  now  forty-five  years 
of  age,  was  rapidly  approaching  the  time  when 
questions  of  marriage  could  no  longer  be  entertained. 
Her  lovers,  or,  rather,  her  suitors,  had,  one  after  an- 
other, given  up  the  pursuit,  and  disappeared  from  the 
field.  One  only  seemed  at  length  to  remain,  on  the 
decision  of  whose  fate  the  final  result  of  the  great 
question  of  the  queen's  marriage  seemed  to  be  pend- 
ing. 

It  was  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  He  was  a  French 
prince.  His  brother,  who  had  been  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou before  him,  was  now  King   Henry  III.  of  France. 


1581]  ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  145 

His  own  name  was  Francis.  He  was  twenty-five  years 
younger  than  Elizabeth,  and  he  was  only  seventeen 
years  of  age  when  it  was  first  proposed  that  he  should 
marry  her.  H'^  was  then  Duke  of  Alen^on.  It  was 
his  mother's  plan.  She  was  the  great  Catharine  de 
Medici,  Queen  of  France,  and  one  of  the  most  .extraor- 
dinary women,  for  her  talents,  her  management,  and 
her  power,  that  ever  lived.  Having  one  son  upon  the 
throne  of  France,  she  wanted  the  throne  of  England 
for  the  other.  The  negotiation  had  been  pending 
fruitlessly  for  many  years,  and  now,  in  1581,  it  was 
vigorously  renewed.  The  duke  himself,  who  was  at 
this  time  a  young  man  of  twenty-four  or  five,  began 
to  be  impatient  and  earnest  in  his  suit.  There  was,  in 
fact,  one  good  reason  why  he  should  be  so.  Eliza- 
beth was  forty-eight,  and,  unless  the  match  were  soon 
concluded,  the  time  for  effecting  it  would  be  obviously 
forever  gone  by. 

He  had  never  had  an  interview  wilh  the  queen. 
He  had  seen  pictures  of  her,  however,  and  he  sent  an 
embassador  over  to  England  to  urge  his  suit,  and  to 
convince  Elizabeth  how  much  he  was  in  love  with 
her  charms.  The  name  of  this  agent  was  Simier. 
He  was  a  very  polite  and  accomplished  man,  and 
soon  learned  the  art  of  winning  his  way  to  Elizabeth's 
favor.  Leicester  was  very  jealous  of  his  success. 
The  two  favorites  soon  imbibed  a  terrible  enmity  for 
each  other.     They  filled  the  court  with  their  quarrels. 

M.  of  H.— 16— 10 


146  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1581 

The  progress  of  the  negotiation,  however,  went  on, 
the  people  taking  sides  very  violently,  some  for  and 
some  against  the  projected  marriage.  The  animosities 
became  exceedingly  virulent,  until  at  'ength  Simier's 
life  seemed  to  be  in  danger.  He  said  that  Leicester 
had  hired  one  of  the  guards  to  assassinate  him;  and 
it  is  a  fact,  that  one  day,  as  he  and  the  queen,  with 
other  attendants,  were  making  an  excursion  upon  the 
river,  a  shot  was  fired  from  the  shore  into  the  barge. 
The  shot  did  no  injury  except  to  v/ound  one  of  the 
oarsmen  and  frighten  all  the  party  pretty  thoroughly. 
Some  thought  the  shot  was  aimed  at  Simier,  and 
others  at' the  queen  herself.  It  v/as  afterward  proved, 
or  supposed  to  be  proved,  that  this  shot  was  the  ac- 
cidental discharge  of  a  gun,  without  any  evil  intention 
whatever. 

In  the  mean  time,  Elizabeth  grew  more  and  nu/re 
interested  in  the  idea  of  having  the  young  duke  for 
her  husband;  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  maidenly  reso- 
lutions, which  had  stood  their  ground  so  firmly  for 
twenty  years,  were  to  be  conquered  at  last.  The 
more,  however,  she  seemed  to  approach  toward  a 
consent  to  the  measure,  the  more  did  all  the  officers 
of  her  government,  and  the  nation  at  large,  oppose 
it.  There  were,  in  their  minds,  two  insuperable  ob- 
jections to  the  match.  The  candidate  was  a  French- 
man, and  he  was  a  papist.  The  council  interceded. 
Friends    remonstrated.     The    nation     murmured    and 


1581J         ELIZABETH'S   LOVERS  147 

threatened.  A  book  was  published  entitled  "  The 
Discovery  of  a  gaping  Gulf  wherein  England  is  like 
to  be  swallowed  up  by  another  French  marriage,  un- 
less the  Lord  forbid  the  Bans  by  letting  her  see  the 
Sin  and  Punishment  thereof."  The  author  of  it  had 
his  right  hand  cut  off,  for  his  punishment. 

At  length,  after  a  series  of  most  extraordinary  dis- 
cussions, negotiations,  and  occurrences,  which  kept 
the  whole  country  in  a  state  of  great  excitement  for 
a  long  time,  the  affair  was  at  last  all  settled.  The 
marriage  articles,  both  political  and  personal  were  all 
arranged.  The  nuptials  were  to  be  celebrated  in  six 
weeks.  The  duke  came  over  in  great  state  and  was 
received  with  all  possible  pomp  and  parade.  Festi- 
vals and  banquets  were  arranged  without  number, 
and  in  the  most  magnificent  style  to  do  him  and 
his  attendants  honor.  At  one  of  them,  the  queen 
took  off  a  ring  from  her  finger,  and  put  it  upon  his, 
in  the  presence  of  a  great  assembly,  which  was  the 
first  announcement  to  the  public  that  the  affair  was 
finally  settled.  The  news  spread  every  where  with 
great  rapidity.  It  produced  in  England  great  conster- 
nation and  distress,  but  on  the  continent  it  was 
welcomed  with  joy,  and  the  great  English  alliance, 
now  so  obviously  approaching,  was  celebrated  with 
ringing  of  bells,  bonfires,  and  grand  illuminations. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  as  soon  as  the 
obstacles  were  all  removed,  and   there  was  no  longer 


148  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1581 

opposition  to  stimulate  the  determination  of  the  queen, 
her  heart  failed  her  at  last,  and  she  finally  concluded 
that  she  would  not  be  married,  after  all.  She  sent 
for  the  duke  one  morning  to  come  and  see  her.  What 
takes  place  precisely  between  ladies  and  gentlemen 
when  they  break  off  their  engagements  is  not  gener- 
ally very  publicly  known,  but  the  duke  came  out  from 
this  interview  in  a  fit  of  great  vexation  and  anger. 
He  pulled  off  the  queen's  ring  and  threw  it  from  him, 
muttering  curses  upon  the  fickleness  and  faithless- 
ness of  women. 

Still  Elizabeth  would  not  admit  that  the  match 
was  broken  off.  She  continued  to  treat  the  duke 
with  civility  and  to  pay  him  many  honors.  He  de- 
cided, however,  to  return  to  the  Continent.  She  ac- 
companied him  a  part  of  the  way  to  the  coast,  and 
took  leave  of  him  with  many  professions  of  sorrow 
at  the  parting,  and  begged  him  to  come  back  soon. 
This  he  promised  to  do,  but  he  never  returned.  He 
lived  some  time  afterward  in  comparative  neglect  and 
obscurity,  and  mankind  considered  the  question  of 
the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  as  now,  at  last,  settled  for- 
ever. 


CHAPTER     IX. 
Personal  Character. 

Opinions  of  Elizabeth's  character. —  The  Catholics  and  Protestants.—  Parties 
in  England. —  Elizabeth's  wise  administration. —  Mary  claims  the  Eng- 
li.sh  throne. —  She  is  made  prisoner  by  Elizabeth. —  Various  plots. —  Exe- 
cution of  Mary. —  The  impossibility  of  settling  the  claims  of  Elizabeth 
and  Mary. —  Elizabeth's  duplicity. —  Her  scheming  to  entrap  Mary. — 
Maiden  ladies. —  Their  benevolent  spirit. —  Elizabeth's  selfishness  and 
jealousy. — The  maids  of  honor. —  Instance  of  Elizabeth's  cruelty. — Her 
irritable  temper. —  I,eicester's  friend  and  the  gentleman  of  the  black 
rod. —  Elizabeth  in  a  rage. —  Her  invectives  against  I,eicester. —  Leices- 
ter's chagrin. —  Elizabeth's  pov^ers  of  satire. — Elizabeth's  views  of  mar- 
riage.—  Her  insulting  conduct. —  The  Dean  of  Christ  Church  and  the 
Prayer  Book.— Elizabeth's  good  qualities. —  Her  courage. —  The  shot  at 
the  barge. —  Elizabeth's  vanity. —  Elizabeth  and  the  embassador. —  The 
pictures. —  Elizabeth's  fondness  for  pomp  and  parade. —  Summary  of 
Elizabeth's  character  . 


M 


ANKiND  have  always  been  very  much  divided 
in  opinion  in  respect  to  the  personal  char- 
acter of  Queen  Elizabeth,  but  in  one  point  all 
have  agreed,  and  that  is,  that  in  the  management  of 
public  affairs  she  was  a  woman  of  extraordinary  tal- 
ent and  sagacity,  combining,  in  a  very  remarkable  de- 
gree, a  certain  cautious  good  sense  and  prudence  with 
the  most  determined  resolution  and  energy. 

She  reigned    about  forty  years,  and   during    almost 
all  that  time  the  whole  western  part  of  the  continent 

(«49) 


I50  QUEEN     ELIZABETH     [1560-80 

of  Europe  was  convulsed  with  the   most  terrible  con- 
flicts   between    the    Protestant    and    Catholic    parties. 
The  predominance  of   power  was  with  the  Catholics, 
and    was,    of  course,  hostile   to    Elizabeth.     She  had, 
moreover,    in    the    field  a   very   prominent    competitor 
for  her  throne  in  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.     The   foreign 
Protestant    powers  were    ready    to   aid    this   claimant, 
and  there  was,  besides,  in  her  own  dominions  a  very 
powerful   interest    in    her   favor.     The   great    divisions 
of  sentiment   in  England,  and  the  energy  with  which 
each  party  struggled  against    its  opponents,  produced, 
at  all  times,  a  prodigious  pressure  of  opposing  forces, 
which  bore  heavily  upon    the    safety  of  the  state  and 
of  Elizabeth's   government,  and  threatened  them  with 
continual  danger.     The  administration  of  public  affairs 
moved  on,  during  all   this  time,  trembling  continually 
under    the    heavy  shocks  it  was    constantly  receiving, 
like    a   ship   staggering  on    in  a  storm,  its   safety  de- 
pending on  the  nice    equilibrium  between    the  shocks 
of  the  seas,  the  pressure  of  the  wind  upon  the  sails, 
and    the   weight   and  steadiness  of  the  ballast  below. 
During  all   this  forty  years  it  is  admitted  that  Eliz- 
abeth and  her  wise  and  sagacious  ministers   managed 
very    admirably.      They    maintained   the   position   and 
honor  of  England,  as  a  Protestant   power,  with   great 
success;  and  the    country,  during   the   whole   period, 
made  great  progress  in  the  arts,  in  commerce,  and  in 
improvements  of  every  kind.     Elizabeth's  greatest  dan- 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         151 

ger,  and  her  greatest  source  of  solicitude,  during  her 
whole  reign,  was  from  the  claims  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots.  We  have  already  described  the  energetic 
measures  that  she  took  at  the  commencement  of  her 
reign  to  counteract  and  head  off,  at  the  outset,  these 
dangerous  pretensions.  Though  these  efforts  were 
triumphantly  successful  at  the  time,  still  the  victory 
was  not  final.  It  postponed,  but  did  not  destroy,  the 
danger.  Mary  continued  to  claim  the  English  throne. 
Innumerable  plots  were  beginning  to  be  formed  among 
the  Catholics,  in  Elizabeth's  own  dominions,  for  mak- 
ing her  queen.  Foreign  potentates  and  powers  were 
watching  an  opportunity  to  assist  in  these  plans.  At 
last  Mary,  on  account  of  internal  difficulties  in  her 
own  land,  fled  across  the  frontier  into  England,  to 
save  her  life,  and  Elizabeth  made  her  prisoner. 

In  England,  to  plan  or  design  the  dethronement 
of  a  monarch  is,  in  a  subject,  high  treason.  Mary 
had  undoubtedly  designed  the  dethronement  of  Eliza- 
beth, and  was  waiting  only  an  opportunity  to  accom- 
phsh  it.  Ehzabeth,  consequently,  condemned  her  as 
guilty  of  treason,  in  effect;  and  Mary's  sole  defense 
against  this  charge  was  that  she  was  not  a  subject. 
Elizabeth  yielded  to  this  plea,  when  she  first  found 
Mary  in  her  power,  so  far  as  not  to  take  her  life,  but 
she  consigned  her  to  a  long  and  weary  captivity. 

This,  however,  only  made  the  matter  worse.  It 
stimulated  the   enthusiasm  and  zeal  of  all  the    Catho- 


152  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1586 

lies  in  England,  to  have  their  leader,  and  as  they  be- 
lieved, their  rightful  queen,  a  captive  in  the  midst  of 
them,  and  they  formed  continually  the  most  exten- 
sive and  most  dangerous  plots.  These  plots  were 
discovered  and  suppressed,  one  after  another,  each 
one  producing  more  anxiety  and  alarm  than  the  pre- 
ceding. For  a  time  Mary  suffered  no  evil  conse- 
quences from  these  discoveries,  further  than  an  increase 
of  the  rigors  of  her  confinement.  At  last  the  patience 
of  the  queen  and  of  her  government  was  exhausted. 
A  law  was  passed  against  treason,  expressed  in  such 
terms  as  to  include  Mary  in  the  liability  for  its  dread- 
ful penalties,  although  she  was  not  a  subject,  in  case 
of  any  new  transgression;  and  when  the  next  case 
occurred,  they  brought  her  to  trial  and  condemned 
her  to  death.  The  sentence  was  executed  in  the 
gloomy  Castle  of  Fotheringay,  where  she  was  then 
confined. 

As  to  the  question  whether  Mary  or  Elizabeth  had 
the  rightful  title  to  the  English  crown,  it  has  not  only 
never  been  settled,  but  from  its  very  nature  it  can  not 
be  settled.  It  is  one  of  those  cases  in  which  a  pecu- 
liar contingency  occurs  which  runs  beyond  the  scope 
and  reach  of  all  the  ordinary  principles  by  which  analo- 
gous cases  are  tried,  and  leads  to  questions  which  can 
not  be  decided.  As  long  as  a  hereditary  succession 
goes  smoothly  on,  like  a  river  keeping  within  its  banks, 
we  can    decide    subordinate    and    incidental   questions 


QUEEN     ELIZABETH     CONFIRMS    THE     DEATH     WARRANT    OF 
MARY     STUART. 


1586]         PERSONAL  CHARACTER         153 

which  may  arise;  but  when  a  case  occurs  in  which 
we  have  the  omnipotence  of  Parhament  to  set  off 
against  the  int'allibihty  of  the  pope  —  the  sacred  obhga- 
tions  of  a  will  against  the  equally  sacred  principles  of 
hereditary  succession  —  and  when  we  have,  at  last, 
two  contradictory  actions  of  the  same  ultimate  umpire, 
we  find  all  technical  grounds  of  coming  to  a  conclu- 
sion gone.  We  then,  abandoning  these,  seek  for  some 
higher  and  more  universal  principles  —  essential  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  thus  independent  of  the  will 
and  action  of  man  —  to  see  if  they  will  throw  any 
light  on  the  subject.  But  we  soon  find  ourselves  as 
much  perplexed  and  confounded  in  this  inquiry  as  we 
were  before.  We  ask,  in  beginning  the  investigation. 
What  is  the  ground  and  nature  of  the  right  by  which 
any  king  or  qneen  succeeds  to  the  power  possessed 
by  ancestors  }  And  we  give  up  in  despair,  not  being 
able  to  answer  even  this  first  preliminary  inquiry. 

Mankind  have  not,  in  their  estimate  of  Elizabeth's 
character,  condemned  so  decidedly  the  substantial  acts 
which  she  performed,  as  the  duplicity,  the  false-heart- 
edness,  and  the  false  pretensions  which  she  manifested 
in  performing  them.  Had  she  said  frankly  and  openly 
to  Mary  before  the  world,  "if  these  schemes  for  rev- 
olutionizing England  and  placing  yourself  upon  the 
throne  continue,  your  life  must  be  forfeited;  my  own 
safety  and  the  safety  of  the  realm  absolutely  demand 
it"  ;  and  then  had  fairly,  and  openly,  and  honestly  ex- 


154  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

ecuted  her  threat,  mankind  would  have  been  silent  on 
the  subject,  if  they  had  not  been  satisfied.  But  if  she 
had  really  acted  thus,  she  would  not  have  been  Eliza- 
beth. She,  in  fact,  pursued  a  very  different  course. 
She  maneuvered,  schemed,  and  planned;  she  pretended 
to  be  full  of  the  warmest  affection  for  her  cousin;  she 
contrived  plot  after  plot,  and  scheme  after  scheme,  to 
ensnare  her;  and  when,  at  last,  the  execution  took 
place,  in  obedience  to  her  own  formal  and  written  au- 
thority, she  pretended  to  great  astonishment  and  rage. 
She  never  meant  that  the  sentence  should  take  effect. 
She  filled  England,  France,  and  Scotland  with  the  loud 
expressions  of  her  regret,  and  she  punished  the  agents 
who  had  executed  her  will.  This  management  was  to 
prevent  the  friends  of  Mary  from  forming  plans  of  re- 
venge. 

This  was  her  character  in  all  things.  She  was 
famous  for  her  false  pretensions  and  double  dealings, 
and  yet,  with  all  her  talents  and  sagacity,  the  dis- 
guise she  assumed  was  sometimes  so  thin  and  trans- 
parent that  her  assuming  it  was  simply  ridiculous. 

Maiden  ladies,  who  spend  their  lives,  in  some  re- 
spects, alone,  often  become  deeply  imbued  with  a 
kind  and  benevolent  spirit,  which  seeks  its  gratifica- 
tion in  relieving  the  pains  and  promoting  the  happi- 
ness of  all  around  them.  Conscious  that  the  circum- 
stances which  have  caused  them  to  lead  a  single  life 
would  secure  for  them  the  sincere   sympathy  and  th* 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         155 

increased  esteem  of  all  who  know  them,  if  delicacy 
and  propriety  allowed  them  to  be  expressed,  they  feel 
a  strong  degree  of  self-respect,  they  live  happily,  and 
are  a  continual  means  of  comfort  and  joy  to  all  around 
them.  This  was  not  so,  however,  with  Elizabeth. 
She  was  jealous,  petulant,  irritable.  She  envied  others 
the  love  and  the  domestic  enjoyments  which  ambition 
forbade  her  to  share,  and  she  seemed  to  take  great 
pleasure  in  thwarting  and  interfering  with  the  plans 
of  others  for  securing  this  happiness. 

One  remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  occurred.  It 
seems  she  was  sometimes  accustomed  to  ask  the 
young  ladies  of  the  court  —  her  maids  of  honor — if 
they  ever  thought  about  being  married,  and  they,  be- 
ing cunning  enough  to  know  what  sort  of  an  answer 
would  please  the  queen,  always  promptly  denied  that 
they  did  so.  Oh  no!  they  never  thought  about  being 
married  at  all.  There  was  one  young  lady,  however, 
artless  and  sincere,  who,  \vhen  questioned  in  this 
way,  answered,  in  her  simplicity,  that  she  often 
thought  of  it,  and  that  she  should  like  to  be  married 
very  much,  if  her  father  would  only  consent  to  her 
union  with  a  certain  gentleman  whom  she  loved. 
"Ah!"  said  Elizabeth;  "well,  I  will  speak  to  your 
father  about  it,  and  see  what  I  can  do,"  Not  long 
after  this  the  father  of  the  young  lady  came  to  court, 
and  the  queen  proposed  the  subject  to  him.  The 
father    said    that    he    had    not    been    aware   that    his 


156  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

daughter  had  formed  such  an  attachment,  but  that  he 
should  certainly  give  his  consent,  without  any  hesita- 
tion, to  any  arrangement  of  that  kind  which  the 
queen  desired  and  advised.  "That  is  all,  then,"  said 
the  queen;  "1  will  do  the  rest."  So  she  called  the 
young  lady  into  her  presence,  and  told  her  that  her 
father  had  given  his  free  consent.  The  maiden's  heart 
bounded  with  joy,  and  she  began  to  express  her  hap- 
piness and  her  gratitude  to  the  queen,  promising  to 
do  every  thing  in  her  power  to  please  her,  when 
Elizabeth  interrupted  her,  saying,  "Yes,  you  will  act 
so  as  to  please  me,  1  have  no  doubt,  but  you  are  not 
going  to  be  a  fool  and  get  married.  Your  father  has 
given  his  consent  to  me,  and  not  to  you,  and  you 
may  rely  upon  it  you  will  never  get  it  out  of  my  pos- 
session. You  were  pretty  bold  to  acknowledge  your 
foolishness  to  me  so  readily." 

Elizabeth  was  very  irritable,  and  could  never  bear 
any  contradiction.  In  the  case  even  of  Leicester, 
who  had  such  an  unbounded  influence  over  her,  if 
he  presumed  a  little  too  much  he  would  meet  some- 
times a  very  severe  rebuff,  such  as  nobody  but  a 
courtier  would  endure;  but  courtiers,  haughty  and 
arrogant  as  they  are  in  their  bearing  toward  inferiors, 
are  generally  fawning  sycophants  toward  those  above 
them,  and  they  will  submit  to  any  thing  imaginable 
from  a  queen. 

It    was    the  custom  in    Elizabeth's    days,  as    it    is 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         157 

now  among  the  great  in  European  countries,  to  have 
a  series  or  suite  of  rooms,  one  beyond  the  other,  the 
inner  one  being  the  presence-chamber,  and  the  others 
being  occupied  by  attendants  and  servants  of  various 
grades,  to  regulate  and  control  the  admission  of  com- 
pany. Some  of  these  officers  were  styled  gentlemen 
of  the  black  rod,  that  name  being  derived  from  a  pe- 
culiar badge  of  authority  which  they  were  accustomed 
to  carry.  It  happened,  one  day,  that  a  certain  gay 
captain,  a  follower  of  Leicester's,  and  a  sort  of  favor- 
ite of  his,  was  stopped  in  the  antechamber  by  one 
of  the  gentlemen  of  the  black  rod,  named  Bowyer, 
ihe  queen  having  ordered  him  to  be  more  careful 
and  particular  in  respect  to  the  admission  of  company. 
The  captain,  who  was  proud  of  the  favor  which  he 
enjoyed  with  Leicester,  resented  this  affront,  and 
threatened  the  officer,  and  he  was  engaged  in  an  al- 
tercation with  him  on  the  subject  when  Leicester 
came  in.  Leicester  ^ook  his  favorite's  part,  and  told 
the  gentleman  usher  that  he  was  a  knave,  and  that 
he  would  have  him  turned  out  of  office.  Leicester 
was  accustomed  to  feci  so  much  confidence  in  his 
power  over  Elizabeth,  that  his  manner  toward  all  be- 
neath him  had  become  exceedingly  haughty  and  over- 
bearing. He  supposed,  probably,  that  the  officer  would 
humble  himself  at  once  before  his  rebukes. 

The    officer,    however,    instead     of    this     stepped 
directly  in   before   Leicester,  who  was  then  going  in 


158  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

himself  to  the  presence  of  the  queen ;  kneeled  before 
her  majesty,  related  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  hum- 
bly asked  what  it  was  her  pleasure  that  he  should 
do.  He  had  obeyed  her  majesty's  orders,  he  said, 
and  had  been  called  imperiously  to  account  for  it, 
and  threatened  violently  by  Leicester,  and  he  wished 
now  to  know  whether  Leicester  was  king  or  her 
majesty  queen.  Elizabeth  was  very  much  displeased 
with  the  conduct  of  her  favorite.  She  turned  to  him, 
and,  beginning  with  a  sort  of  oath  which  she  was 
accustomed  to  use  when  irritated  and  angry,  she  ad- 
dressed him  in  invectives  and  reproaches  the  most 
severe.  She  gave  him,  in  a  word,  what  would  be 
called  a  scolding,  were  it  not  that  scolding  is  a  term 
not  sufficiently  dignified  for  history,  even  for  such 
humble  history  as  this.  She  told  him  that  she  had 
indeed  shown  him  favor,  but  her  favor  was  not  so 
fixed  and  settled  upon  him  that  nobody  else  was  to 
have  any  share,  and  that  if  he  imagined  that  he  could 
lord  it  over  her  household,  she  would  contrive  a  way 
very  soon  to  convince  him  of  his  mistake.  There 
was  one  mistress  to  rule  there,  she  said,  but  no 
master.  She  then  dismissed  Bowyer,  telling  Leicester 
that,  if  any  evil  happened  to  him,  she  should  hold 
him,  that  is,  Leicester,  to  a  strict  account  for  it  as 
she  should  be  convinced  it  would  have  come  through 
his  means. 

Leicester  was   exceedingly  chagrined  at  this  result 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         159 

of  the  difficulty.  Of  course  he  dared  not  defend  him- 
self or  reply.  All  the  other  courtiers  enjoyed  his  con- 
fusion very  highly,  and  one  of  them,  in  giving  an  ac- 
count of  the  affair,  said,  in  conclusion,  that  "the 
queen's  words  so  quelled  him,  that,  for  some  time 
after,  his  feigned  humility  was  one  of  his  best  vir- 
tues." 

Queen  Elizabeth  very  evidently  possessed  that 
peculiar  combination  of  quickness  of  intellect  and 
readiness  of  tongue  which  enables  those  who  possess 
it  to  say  very  sharp  and  biting  things,  when  vexed 
or  out  of  humor.  It  is  a  brilliant  talent,  though  it 
always  makes  those  who  ^possess  it  hated  and  feared. 
Elizabeth  was  often  wantonly  cruel  in  the  exercise 
of  this  satirical  power,  considering  very  little  —  as  is 
usually  the  case  with  such  persons  —  the  justice  of 
her  invectives,  but  obeying  blindly  the  impulses  of 
the  ill  nature  which  prompted  her  to  utter  them. 
We  have  already  said  that  she  seemed  always  to  have 
a  special  feeling  of  ill  will  against  marriage  and  every 
thing  that  pertained  to  it,  and  she  had,  particularly, 
a  theory  that  the  bishops  and  the  clergy  ought  not 
to  be  married.  She  could  not  absolutely  prohibit 
their  marrying,  but  she  did  issue  an  injunction  for- 
bidding any  of  the  heads  of  the  colleges  or  cathedrals 
to  take  their  wives  into  the  same,  or  any  of  their 
precincts.  At  one  time,  in  one  of  her  royal  prog- 
resses   through   the    country,    she    was    received    and 


i6o  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

very  magnificently  and  hospitably  entertained  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  his  palace.  The  arch- 
bishop's wife  exerted  herself  very  particularly  to  please 
the  queen  and  to  do  her  honor.  Elizabeth  evinced 
her  gratitude  by  turning  to  her,  as  she  was  about  to 
take  her  leave,  and  saying  that  she  could  not  call 
her  the  archbishop's  wife,  and  did  not  like  to  call 
her  his  mistress,  and  so  she  did  not  know  what  to 
call  her;  but  that,  at  all  events,  she  was  very  much 
obliged  to  her  for  her  hospitality. 

Elizabeth's  highest  officers  of  state  were  continu- 
ally exposed  to  her  sharp  and  sudden  reproaches,  and 
they  often  incurred  them  by  sincere  and  honest  efforts 
to  gratify  and  serve  her.  She  had  made  an  arrange- 
ment, one  day,  to  go  into  the  city  of  London  to  St. 
Paul's  Church,  to  hear  the  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  a 
distinguished  clergyman,  preach.  The  dean  procured 
a  copy  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  had  it  splendidly 
bound,  with  a  great  number  of  beautiful  and  costly 
prints  interleaved  in  it.  These  prints  were  all  of  a 
religious  character,  being  representations  of  sacred 
history,  or  of  scenes  in  the  lives  of  the  saints.  The 
volum^,  thus  prepared,  was  very  beautiful,  and  it  was 
placed,  when  the  Sabbath  morning  arrived,  upon  the 
queen's  cushion  at  the  church,  ready  for  her  use. 
The  queen  entered  in  great  state,  and  took  her  seat 
in  the  midst  of  all  the  parade  and  ceremony  custo- 
mary on   such    occasions.     As   soon,  however,  as  she 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         161 

opened  the  book  and  saw  the  pictures,  she  frowned, 
and  seemed  to  be  much  displeased.  She  shut  the 
book  and  put  it  away,  and  called  for  her  own;  and, 
after  the  service,  she  sent  for  the  dean,  and  asked 
him  who  brought  that  book  there.  He  replied,  in  a 
very  humble  and  submissive  manner,  that  he  had 
procured  it  himself,  having  intended  it  as  a  present 
for  her  majesty.  This  only  produced  fresh  expressions 
of  displeasure.  She  proceeded  to  rebuke  him  severely 
for  countenancing  such  a  popish  practice  as  the  intro- 
duction of  pictures  in  the  churches.  All  this  time 
Elizabeth  had  herself  a  crucifix  in  her  own  private 
chapel,  and  the  dean  himself,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
a  firm  and  consistent  Protestant,  entirely  opposed  to 
the  Catholic  system  of  images  and  pictures,  as  Eliza- 
beth very  well  knew. 

This  sort  of  roughness  was  a  somewhat  masculine 
trait  of  character  for  a  lady,  it  must  be  acknowledged, 
and  not  a  very  agreeable  one,  even  in  man;  but  with 
some  of  the  bad  qualities  of  the  other  sex,  Elizabeth 
possessed,  also,  some  that  were  good.  She  was  cou- 
rageous, and  she  evinced  her  courage  sometimes  in  a 
very  noble  manner.  At  one  time,  when  political  ex- 
citement ran  very  high,  her  friends  thought  that  there 
was  serious  danger  in  her  appearing  openly  in  public, 
and  they  urged  her  not  to  do  it,  but  to  confine  her- 
self within  her  palaces  for  a  time,  until  the  excite- 
ment should  pass   away.     But  no;  the  representations 

M.  of  H.— 16— II 


i62  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

made  to  her  produced  no  effect.  She  said  she  would 
continue  to  go  out  just  as  freely  as  ever.  She  did 
not  think  that  there  was  really  any  danger;  and  be- 
sides, if  there  was,  she  did  not  care;  she  would 
'rather  take  her  chance  of  being  killed  than  to  be 
kept  shut  up  like  a  prisoner. 

At  the  time,  too,  when  the  shot  was  fired  at  the 
barge  in  which  she  was  going  down  the  Thames, 
many  of  her  ministers  thought  it  was  aimed  at  her. 
They  endeavored  to  convince  her  of  this,  and  urged 
her  not  to  expose  herself  to  such  dangers.  She  re- 
plied that  she  did  not  believe  that  the  shot  was  aimed 
at  her;  and  that,  in  fact,  she  would  not  believe  any- 
thing of  her  subjects  which  a  father  would  not  be 
willing  to  believe  of  his  own  children.  So  she  went 
on  sailing  in  her  barge  just  as  before. 

Elizabeth  was  very  vain  of  her  beauty,  though,  un- 
fortunately, she  had  very  little  beauty  to  be  vain  of. 
Nothing  pleased  her  so  much  as  compliments.  She 
sometimes  almost  exacted  them.  At  one  time,  when 
a  distinguished  embassador  from  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
was  at  her  court,  she  'insisted  on  his  telling  her 
whether  she  or  Mary  was  the  most  beautiful.  When 
we  consider  that  Elizabeth  was  at  this  time  over 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  Mary  only  twenty-two,  and 
that  the  fame  of  Mary's  loveliness  had  filled  the  world, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  this  question  indicated  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  seif-complacency.     The  embassador 


1560-80]  PERSONAL  CHARACTER         163 

had  the  prudence  to  attempt  to  evade  the  inquiry. 
He  said  at  first  that  they  were  both  beautiful  enough. 
But  Elizabeth  wanted  to  know,  she  said,  which  was 
most  beautiful.  The  embassador  then  said  that  his 
queen  was  the  most  beautiful  queen  in  Scotland  and 
Elizabeth  in  England.  Elizabeth  was  not  satisfied  with 
this,  but  insisted  on  a  definite  answer  to  her  ques- 
tion; and  the  embassador  said  at  last  that  Elizabeth 
had  the  fairest  complexion,  though  Mary  was  consid- 
ered a  very  lovely  woman.  Elizabeth  then  wanted  to 
know  which  was  the  tallest  of  the  two.  The  embassa- 
dor said  that  Mary  was.  "  Then,"  said  Elizabeth,  "she 
is  too  tall,  for  I  am  just  of  the  right  height   myself." 

At  one  time  during  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  people 
took  a  fancy  to  engrave  and  print  portraits  of  her, 
which,  being  perhaps  tolerably  faithful  to  the  orig- 
inal, were  not  very  alluring.  The  queen  was  much 
vexed  at  the  circulation  of  these  prints,  and  finally 
she  caused  a  grave  and  formal  proclamation  to  be 
issued  against  them,  in  this  proclamation  it  was 
stated  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  queen,  at 
some  future  time,  to  have  a  proper  attist  employed 
to  execute  a  correct  and  true  portrait  of  herself, 
which  should  then  be  published;  and,  in  the  mean 
time,  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  make  or  sell  any 
representations  of  her  whatever. 

Elizabeth  was  extremely  fond  of  pomp  and  parade. 
The  magnificence  and  splendor  of  the  celebrations  and 


i64  QUEEN  ELIZABETH      [1560-80 

festivities  which  charcterized  her  reign  have  scarcely 
ever  been  surpassed  in  any  country  or  in  any  age. 
She  once  went  to  attend  church,  on  a  particular  occa- 
sion, accompanied  by  a  thousand  men  in  full  armor  of 
steel,  and  ten  pieces  of  cannon,  with  drums  and 
trumpets  sounding.  She  received  her  foreign  embas- 
sadors with  military  spectacles  and  shows,  and  with 
banquets  and  parties  of  pleasure,  which  for  many 
days  kept  all  London  in  a  fever  of  excitement.  Some 
times  she  made  excursions  on  the  river,  with  whole 
fleets  of  boats  and  barges  in  her  train;  the  shores,  on 
such  occasions,  swarming  with  spectators,  and  wav- 
ing with  flags  and  banners.  Sometimes  she  would 
make  grand  progresses  through  her  dominions,  followed 
by  an  army  of  attendants  —  lords  and  ladies  dressed 
and  mounted  in  the  most  costly  manner — and  put- 
ting the  nobles  whose  seats  she  visited  to  a  vast  ex- 
pense in  entertaining  such  a  crowd  of  visitors.  Being 
very  saving  of  her  own  means,  she  generally  con- 
trived to  bring  the  expense  of  this  magnificence  upon 
others.  The  honor  was  a  sufficient  equivalent.  Or, 
if  it  was  not,  nobody  dared  to  complain. 

To  sum  up  all,  Elizabeth  was  very  great  and  she 
was,  at  the  same  time,  very  little.  Littleness  and  gr£at- 
ness  mingled  in  her  character  in  a  manner  which  has 
scarcely  ever  been  paralleled,  except  by  the  equally 
singular  mixture  of  admiration  and  contempt  with 
which  mankind  have  always  regarded  her. 


CHAPTER    X. 
The  Invincible  Armada. 

Fierce  contests  between  Catholics  and  Protestants. —  Philip's  cruelty. —  Effects 
of  War. —  Napoleou  and  Xerxes. —  March  of  improvement. —  Spanish  ar- 
madas.—  The  Low  Countries. —  Their  situation  and  condition. —  Embas- 
sage from  the  Low  Countries. —  Their  proposition. —  Elizabeth's  decision. 
—  I,eicester  and  Drake. —  Leicester  sets  out  for  the  I,ow  Countries. —  His 
reception. —  Leicester's  elation. —  Elizabeth's  displeasure. —  Drake's  suc- 
cess.—  His  deeds  of  cruelty. —  Drake's  expedition  in  1577. —  Execution  of 
Doughty. —  Straits  of  Magellan. —  Drake  plunders  the  Spaniards. —  Chase 
of  the  Cacofogo. —  Drake  captures  her. —  Drake's  escape  by  going  round 
the  world. —  Character  of  Drake. —  Philip  demands  the  treasure. —  Alarm- 
ing news. —  Elizabeth's  navy. —  Drake's  expedition  against  the  Span- 
iards.—  His  bold  stroke.— Exasperation  of  Philip.— His  preparations.— 
Elizabeth's  preparations. —  The  army  and  navy. —  Elizabeth  reviews  the 
troops. —  Her  speech.—  Elizabeth's  energy.  —  Approach  of  the  armada. — 
A  grand  spectacle.— A  singular  fight. —  Defeat  of  the  armada. —  A  rem- 
nant escapes. 

THIRTY  years  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  passed 
away.  During  all  this  time  the  murderous 
contests  between  the  Catholic  governments 
of  France  and  Spain,  and  their  Protestant  subjects, 
went  on  with  terrible  energy.  Philip  of  Spain  was 
the  great  leader  and  head  of  the  Catholic  powers, 
and  he  prosecuted  his  work  of  exterminating  heresy 
with  the  sternest   and    most    merciless   determination. 

(i6s) 


i66  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1585 

Obstinate  and  protracted  wars,  cruel  tortures,  and  im- 
prisonments and  executions  without  number^  marked 
his  reign. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  country  increased  in  population, 
wealth,  and  prosperity.  It  is,  after  all,  but  a  very 
small  proportion  of  fifty  millions  of  people  which  the 
most  cruel  monster  of  a  tyrant  can  kill,  even  if  he 
devotes  himself  fully  to  the  work.  The  natural  deaths 
among  the  vast  population  within  the  reach  of  Phil- 
ip's power  amounted,  probably,  to  two  millions  every 
year;  and  if  he  destroyed  ten  thousand  every  year,  it 
was  only  adding  one  death  by  violence  to  two  hundred 
produced  by  accidents,  disasters,  or  age.  Dreadful  as 
are  the  atrocities  of  persecution  and  war,  and  vast  and 
incalculable  as  are  the  encroachments  on  human  happi- 
ness which  they  produce,  we  are  often  led  to  overrate 
their  relative  importance,  compared  with  the  aggre- 
gate value  of  the  interests  and  pursuits  which  are  left 
unharmed  by  them,  by  not  sufficiently  appreciating 
the  enormous  extent  and  magnitude  of  these  interests 
and  pursuits  in  such  communities  as  England,  France, 
and  Spain. 

Sometimes,  it  is  true,  the  opeiations  of  military 
heroes  have  been  on  such  a  prodigious  scale  as  to 
make  very  serious  inroads  on  the  population  of  the 
greatest  states.  Napoleon,  for  instance,  on  one  occa- 
sion took  five  hundred  thousand  men  out  of  France  for 


1585J    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA      167 

his  expedition  to  Russia.  The  campaign  destroyed 
nearly  all  of  them.  It  was  only  a  very  insignificant  frac- 
tion of  the  vast  army  that  ever  returned.  By  this  trans- 
action, Napoleon  thus  just  about  doubled  the  annual 
mortality  in  France  at  a  single  blow.  Xerxes  enjoys 
the  glory  of  having  destroyed  about  a  million  of  men  — 
and  these,  not  enemies,  but  countrymen,  followers 
and  friends  —  in  the  same  way,  on  a  single  expedition. 
Such  vast  results,  however,  were  not  attained  in  the 
conflicts  which  marked  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  and 
Philip  of  Spain.  Notwithstanding  the  long-protracted 
international  wars,  and  dreadful  civil  commotions  of  the 
period,  the  world  went  on  increasing  in  wealth  and 
population,  and  all  the  arts  and  improvements  of  life 
made  very  rapid  progress.  America  had  been  discov- 
ered, and  the  way  to  the  East  Indies  had  been  opened 
to  European  ships,  and  the  Spaniards,  the  Portuguese, 
the  Dutch,  the  English,  and  the  French,  had  fleets  of 
merchant  vessels  and  ships  of  war  in  every  sea.  The 
Spaniards,  particularly,  had  acquired  great  possessions 
in  America,  which  contained  very  rich  mines  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  there  was  a  particular  kind  of  vessels 
called  galleons,  which  went  regularly  once  a  year, 
under  a  strong  convoy,  to  bring  home  the  treasure. 
They  used  to  call  these  fleets  armada,  which  is  the 
Spanish  word  denoting  an  armed  squadron.  Nations 
at  war  with  Spain  always  made  great  efforts  to  inter- 
cept and  seize  these  ships  on  their  homeward  voyages. 


i68  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1585 

when,  being  laden  with  gold  and  silver,  they  became 
prizes  of  the  highest  value. 

Things  were  in  this  state  about  the  year  1585, 
when  Queen  Elizabeth  received  a  proposition  from 
the  Continent  of  Europe  which  threw  her  into  great 
perplexity.  Among  the  other  dominions  of  Fhihp  of 
Spain,  theie  were  certain  states  situated  in  the  broad 
tract  of  low,  level  land  which  lies  northeast  of  France, 
and  which  constitutes,  at  the  present  day,  the  coun- 
tries of  Holland  and  Belgium.  This  territory  was 
then  divided  into  several  provinces,  which  were  called, 
usually,  the  Low  Countries,  on  account  of  the  low 
and  level  situation  of  the  land.  In  fact,  there  are  vast 
tracts  of  land  bordering  the  shore,  which  lie  so  low 
that  dikes  have  to  be  built  to  keep  out  the  sea.  In 
these  cases,  there  are  lines  of  windmills,  of  great 
size  and  power,  all  along  the  coast,  whose  vast  wings 
are  always  slowly  revolving,  to  pump  out  the  water 
which  percolates  through  the  dikes,  or  which  flows 
from  the  water-courses  after  showers  of  rain. 

The  Low  Countries  were  very  unwilling  to  submit 
to  the  tyrannical  government  which  Philip  exercised 
over  them.  The  inhabitants  were  generally  Protes- 
tants, and  Philip  persecuted  them  cruelly.  They  were, 
in  consequence  of  this,  continually  rebelling  against 
his  authority,  and  Elizabeth  secretly  aided  them  in 
these  struggles,  though  she  would  not  openly  assist 
them,  as  she  did  not  wish  to  provoke  Philip  to  open 


1585]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA       169 

war.  She  wished  them  success,  however,  for  she 
knew  very  well  that  if  Philip  could  once  subdue  his 
Protestant  subjects  at  home,  he  would  immediately 
turn  his  attention  to  England,  and  perhaps  undertake 
to  depose  Elizabeth,  and  place  some  Catholic  prince 
or  princess  upon  the  throne  in  her  stead. 

Things  were  in  this  state  in  1585,  when  the  con- 
federate provinces  of  the  Low  Countries  sent  an 
embassage  to  Elizabeth,  offering  her  the  government 
of  the  country  as  sovereign  queen,  if  she  would 
openly  espouse  their  cause  and  protect  them  from 
Philip's  power.  This  proposition  called  for  very  serious 
and  anxious  consideration.  Elizabeth  felt  very  desirous 
to  make  this  addition  to  her  dominions  on  its  own 
account,  and  besides,  she  saw  at  once  that  such  an 
acquisition  would  give  her  a  great  advantage  in  her 
future  contests  with  Philip,  if  actual  war  must  come. 
But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  by  accepting  the  propo- 
sition, war  must  necessarily  be  brought  on  at  once. 
Philip  would,  in  fact,  consider  her  espousing  the 
cause  of  his  rebellious  subjects,  as  an  actual  declara- 
tion of  war  on  her  part,  so  that  making  such  a  league 
with  these  countries  would  plunge  her  at  once  into 
hostilities  with  the  greatest  and  most  extended  power 
on  the  globe.  Elizabeth  was  very  unwilling  thus  to 
precipitate  the  contest;  but  then,  on  the  other  hand, 
she  wished  very  much  to  avoid  the  danger  that 
threatened,    of   Philip's    first    subduing    his    own    do- 


lyo  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1585 

minions,  and  then  advancing  to  the  invasion  of  Eng- 
land with  his  undivided  strength.  She  finally  con- 
cluded not  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  the  countries, 
but  to  make  a  league,  offensive  and  defensive,  with 
the  governments,  and  to  send  out  a  fleet  and  an 
army  to  aid  them.  This,  as  she  had  expected,  brought 
on  a  general  war. 

The  queen  commissioned  Leicester  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  forces  which  were  to  proceed  to  Holland 
and  the  Netherlands;  she  also  equipped  a  fleet,  and 
placed  it  under  the  command  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  a 
very  celebrated  naval  captain,  to  proceed  across  the 
Atlantic  and  attack  the  Spanish  possessions  on  the 
American  shores.  Leicester  was  extremely  elated  with 
his  appointment,  and  set  off  on  his  expedition  with 
great  pomp  and  parade.  He  had  not  generally,  during, 
his  life,  held  stations  of  any  great  trust  or  responsi- 
bility. The  queen  had  conferred  upon  him  high  titles 
and  vast  estates,  but  she  had  confided  all  real  power 
to  far  more  capable  and  trustworthy  hands.  She 
thought,  however,  perhaps,  that  Leicester  would  an- 
swer for  her  allies;  so  she  gave  him  his  commission 
and  sent  him  forth,  charging  him,  with  many  injunc- 
tions, as  he  went  away,  to  be  discreet  and  faithful, 
and  to  do  nothing  which  should  compromise,  in  any 
way,  her  interests  or     honor. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  recollected  that  Leicester's  wife 
had  been,  before  her  marriage  with  him,  the  wife  of? 


1585]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA       171 

nobleman  named  the  Earl  of  Essex.  She  had  a  son, 
who,  at  his  father's  death,  succeeded  to  the  title. 
This  young  Essex  accompanied  Leicester  on  this  oc- 
casion. His  subsequent  adventures,  which  were  ro- 
mantic and  extraordinary,  will  be  narrated  in  the  next 
chapter. 

The  people  of  the  Netherlands,  being  extremely 
desirous  to  please  Elizabeth,  their  new  ally,  thought 
that  they  could  not  honor  the  great  general  she  had 
sent  them  too  highly.  They  received  him  with  most 
magnificent  military  parades,  and  passed  a  vote  in  their 
assembly  investing  him  with  absolute  authority  as 
head  of  the  government,  thus  putting  him,  in  fact,  in 
the  very  position  which  Elizabeth  had  herself  declined 
receiving.  Leicester  was  extremely  pleased  and  elated 
with  these  honors.  He  was  king  all  but  in  name. 
He  provided  himself  with  a  noble  life-guard,  in  im- 
itation of  royalty,  and  assumed  all  the  state  and  airs 
of  a  monarch.  Things  went  on  so  very  prosperously 
with  him  for  a  short  time,  until  he  was  one  day  thun- 
der-struck by  the  appearance  at  his  palace  of  a  noble- 
man from  the  queen's  court,  named  Heneage,  who 
brought  him  a  letter  from  Elizabeth  which  was  in  sub- 
stance as  follows: 

"How  foolishly,  and  with  what  contempt  of  my 
authority,  I  think  you  have  acted,  the  messenger  1 
now  send  to  you  will  explain.     I   little   imagined  that 


172  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1577 

a  man  whom  I  had  raised  from  the  dust,  and  treated 
with  so  much  favor,  would  have  forgotten  all  his 
obligations,  and  acted  in  such  a  manner.  I  command 
you  now  to  put  yourself  entirely  under  the  direction 
of  this  messenger,  to  do  in  all  things  precisely  as  he 
requires,  upon  pain  of  further  peril." 

Leicester  humbled  himself  immediately  under  this 
rebuke,  sent  home  most  ample  apologies  and  prayers 
for  forgiveness,  and,  after  a  time,  gradually  recovered 
the  favor  of  the  queen.  He  soon,  however,  became 
very  unpopular  in  the  Netherlands.  Grievous  com- 
plaints were  made  against  him,  and  he  was  at  length 
recalled. 

Drake  was  more  successful.  He  was  a  bold,  un- 
daunted, and  energetic  seaman,  but  unprincipled  and 
merciless.  He  manned  and  equipped  his  fleet,  and 
set  sail  toward  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America. 
He  attacked  the  colonies,  sacked  the  towns,  plun- 
dered the  inhabitants,  intercepted  the  ships,  and 
searched  them  for  silver  and  gold.  In  a  word,  he  did 
exactly  what  pirates  are  hung  for  doing,  and  execrated 
afterward  by  all  mankind.  But,  as  Queen  Elizabeth 
gave  him  permission  to  perform  these  exploits,  he 
has  always  been  applauded  by  mankind  as  a  hero. 
We  would  not  be  understood  as  denying  that  there 
is  any  difference  between  burning  and  plundering 
innocent  towns  and    robbing  ships,  whether    there   is 


1578]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA       173 

or  is  not  a  governmental  permission  to  commit  these 
crimes.  There  certainly  is  a  difference.  It  only  seems 
to  us  surprising  that  there  should  be  so  great  a  dif- 
ference as  is  made  by  the  general  estimation  of  man- 
kind. 

Drake,  in  fact,  had  acquired  a  great  and  honorable 
celebrity  for  such  deeds  before  this  time,  by  a  simi- 
lar expedition,  several  years  before,  in  which  he  had 
been  driven  to  make  the  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe.  England  and  Spain  were  then  nominally  at 
peace,  and  the  expedition  was  really  in  pursuit  of 
prizes  and  plunder. 

Drake  took  five  vessels  with  him  on  this  his  first 
expedition,  but  they  were  all  very  small.  The  largest 
was  only  a  vessel  of  one  hundred  tons,  while  the 
ships  which  are  now  built  are  often  of  many  thousand. 
With  this  little  fleet  Drake  set  sail  boldly,  and  crossed 
the  Atlantic,  being  fifty-five  days  out  of  sight  of  land. 
He  arrived  at  last  on  the  coast  of  South  America,  and 
then  turned  his  course  southward,  toward  the  Straits 
of  Magellan.  Two  of  his  vessels,  he  found,  were  so 
small  as  to  be  of  very  little  service;  so  he  shipped  the 
men  on  board  the  others,  and  turned  the  two  adrift. 
When  he  got  well  into  the  southern  seas,  he  charged 
his  chief  mate,  whose  name  was  Doughty,  with  some 
offense  against  the  discipline  of  his  little  fleet,  and  had 
him  condemned  to  death.  He  was  executed  at  the 
Straits   of   Magellan  —  beheaded.     Before   he   died,   the 


174  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1579 

unhappy  convict  had  the  sacrament  administered  to 
him,  Drake  himself  partaking  of  it  with  him.  It  was 
said,  and  believed  at  the  time,  that  the  charge  against 
Doughty  was  only  a  pretense,  and  that  the  real  cause 
of  his  death  was,  that  Leicester  had  agreed  with 
Drake  to  kill  him  when  far  away,  on  account  of  his 
having  assisted,  with  others,  in  spreading  the  reports 
that  Leicester  had  murdered  the  Earl  of  Essex,  the 
former  husband  of  his  wife. 

The  little  squadron  passed  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  and  then  encountered  a  dreadful  storm, 
which  separated  the  ships,  and  drove  them  several 
hundred  miles  to  the  westward,  over  the  then  bound- 
less and  trackless  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Drake 
himself  afterward  recovered  the  shore  with  his  own 
ship  alone,  and  moved  northward.  He  found  Spanish 
ships  and  Spanish  merchants  every  where,  who,  not 
dreaming  of  the  presence  of  an  English  enemy  in  those 
distant  seas,  were  entirely  secure;  and  they  fell,,  one 
after  another,  a  very  easy  prey.  The  very  extraordi- 
nary story  is  told  of  his  finding,  in  one  place,  a  Span- 
iard asleep  upon  the  shore,  waiting,  perhaps,  for  a 
boat,  with  thirty  bars  of  silver  by  his  side,  of  great 
weight  and  value,  which  Drake  and  his  men  seized 
and  carried  off,  without  so  much  as  waking  the  owner. 
In  one  harbor  which  he  entered  he  found  three  ships, 
from  which  the  seamen  had  all  gone  ashore,  leaving 
the  vessels  completely    unguarded,   so  entirely  uncon- 


1579]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA      175 

scious  were  they  of  any  danger  near.  Drake  broke 
into  the  cabins  of  these  ships,  and  found  fifty  or  sixty 
wedges  of  pure  silver  there,  of  twenty  pounds  each, 
in  this  way,  as  he  passed  along  the  coast,  he  col- 
lected an  immense  treasure  in  silver  and  gold,  both 
coin  and  bullion,  without  having  to  strike  a  blow  for 
it.  At  last  he  heard  of  a  very  rich  ship  called  the 
Cacafuego,  which  had  recently  sailed  for  Panama,  to 
which  place  they  were  taking  the  treasure,  in  order 
that  it  might  be  transported  across  the  isthmus,  and 
so  taken  home  to  Spain;  for,  before  Drake's  voyage, 
scarcely  a  single  vessel  had  ever  passed  round  Cape 
Horn.  The  ships  which  he  had  plundered  had  been 
all  built  upon  the  coast,  by  Spaniards  who  had  come 
across  the  country  at  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and 
were  to  be  used  only  to  transport  the  treasure  north- 
ward, where  it  could  be  taken  across  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

Drake  gave  ciuise  to  the  Cacafuego.  At  last  he 
came  near  enough  to  fire  into  her,  and  one  of  his 
first  shots  cut  away  her  foremast  and  disabled  her. 
He  soon  captured  the  ship,  and  he  found  immense 
riches '  on  board.  Besides  pearls  and  precious  stones 
of  great  value,  there  were  eighty  pounds  of  gold, 
thirteen  chests  of  silver  coin,  and  silver  enough  in 
bars  "to  ballast  a  ship." 

Drake's  vessel  was  now  richly  laden  with  treasures, 
but   in   the   mean   time  the   news   of   his    plunderings 


176  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1581 

had  gone  across  the  Continent,  and  some  Spanish 
ships  of  war  had  gone  south  to  intercept  him  at  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  on  his  return.  In  this  dilemna, 
the  adventurous  sailor  conceived  of  the  sublime  idea  of 
avoiding  them  by  going  round  the  world  to  get 
home.  He  pushed  boldly  forward,  therefore,  across 
the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  East  Indies,  thence  through 
the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and, 
after  three  years  from  the  time  he  left  England,  he 
returned  to  it  safely  again,  his  ship  loaded  with  the 
plundered  silver  and  gold. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  the  Thames,  the  whole 
world  flocked  to  see  the  little  ship  that  had  performed 
all  these  wonders.  The  vessel  was  drawn  up  along- 
side the  land,  and  a  bridge  made  to  it,  and,  after  the 
treasure  was  taken  out,  it  was  given  up,  for  some 
time,  to  banquetings  and  celebrations  of  every  kind. 
The  queen  took  possession  of  all  the  treasure,  saying 
that  Philip  might  demand  it,  and  she  be  forced  to 
make  restitution,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  all 
this  took  place  several  years  before  the  war.  She, 
however,  treated  the  successful  sailor  with  every  mark 
of  consideration  and  honor;  she  went  herself  on  board 
his  ship,  and  partook  of  an  entertainment  there,  con- 
ferring the  honor  of  knighthood,  at  the  same  time,  on 
the  admiral,  so  that  "Sir  Francis  Drake"  was  thence- 
forth his  proper  title. 

If  the    facts    already  stated    do   not   give   sufficient 


1587]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA      177 

indications  of  the  kind  of  character  which  in  those 
days  made  a  naval  hero,  one  other  circumstance  may 
be  added.  At  one  time  during  this  voyage,  a  Span- 
iard, whose  ship  Drake  had  spared,  made  him  a 
present  of  a  beautiful  negro  girl.  Drake  kept  her  on 
board  his  ship  for  a  time,  and  then  sent  her  ashore 
on  some  island  that  he  was  passing,  and  inhumanly 
abandoned  her  there,  to  become  a  mother  among 
strangers,  utterly  friendless  and  alone.  It  must  be 
added,  however,  in  justice  to  the  rude  men  among 
whom  this  wild  buccaneer  lived,  that,  though  they 
praised  all  his  other  deeds  of  violence  and  wrong, 
this  atrocious  cruelty  was  condemned.  It  had  the  ef- 
fect, even  in  those  days,  of  tarnishing  his  fame. 

Philip  did  claim  the  money,  but  Elizabeth  found 
plenty  of  good  excuses  for  not  paying  it  over  to  him. 

This  celebrated  expedition  occupied  more  than 
three  years.  Going  round  the  world  is  a  long  jour- 
ney. The  arrival  of  the  ship  in  London  took  place 
in  1 58 1,  four  years  before  the  war  actually  broke  out 
between  England  and  Spain,  which  was  in  1585;  and 
it  was  in  consequence  of  the  great  celebrity  which 
Drake  had  acquired  in  this  and  similar  excursions, 
that  when  at  last  hostilities  commenced,  he  was  put 
in  command  of  the  naval  preparations.  It  was  not 
long  before  it  was  found  that  his  services  were  likely 
to  be  reauired  near  home,  for  rumors  began  to  find 
their   way    to    England    that    Philip    was   preparing   a 

M.  of  H. — 16 — 12 


lyS  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1587 

great  fleet  for  the  actual  invasion  of  England.  The 
news  put  the  whole  country  into  a  state  of  great 
alarm. 

The  reader,  in  order  to  understand  fully  the 
grounds  for  this  aJarm,  must  remember  that  in  those 
days  Spain  was  the  mistress  of  the  ocean,  and  not 
England  herself.  Spain  possessed  the  distant  colonies 
and  the  foreign  commerce,  and  built  and  armed  the 
great  ships,  while  England  had  comparatively  few 
ships,  and  those  which  she  had  were  small.  To 
meet  the  formidable  preparations  which  the  Spaniards 
were  making,  Elizabeth  equipped  only  four  ships. 
To  these,  however,  the  merchants  of  London  added 
twenty  or  thirty  more,  of  various  sizes,  which  they 
furnished  on  condition  of  having  a  share  in  the  plun- 
der which  they  hoped  would  be  secured.  The  whole 
fleet  was  put  under  Drake's  command. 

Robbers  and  murderers,  whether  those  that  oper- 
ate upon  the  sea  or  on  the  land,  are  generally  coura- 
geous, and  Drake's  former  success  had  made  him 
feel  doubly  confident  and  strong.  Philip  had  col- 
lected a  considerable  fleet  of  ships  in  Cadiz,  which 
is  a  strong  sea-port  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Spain, 
on  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  others  were  assem- 
bling in  all  the  ports  and  bays  along  the  shore, 
wherever  they  could  be  built  or  purchased.  They 
were  to  rendezvous  finally  at  Cadiz.  Drake  pushed 
boldly    forward,    and,    to    the     astonishment    of   the 


1588]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA      179 

world,  forced  his  way  into  the  harbor,  through  a 
squadron  of  galleys  stationed  there  to  protect  the 
entrance,  and  burned,  sunk,  and  destroyed  more 
than  a  hundred  ships  which  had  been  collected  there. 
The  whole  work  was  done,  and  the  httle  English 
fleet  was  off  again,  before  the  Spaniards  could  re- 
cover from  their  astonishment.  Drake  then  sailed 
along  the  coast,  seizing  and  destroying  all  the  ships 
he  could  find.  He  next  pushed  to  sea  a  little  way, 
and  had  the  good  fortune  to  intercept  and  capture 
a  richly-laden  ship  of  very  large  size,  called  a  car- 
rack,  which  was  coming  home  from  the  East  Indies. 
He  then  went  back  to  England  in  triumph.  He 
said  he  had  been  "singeing  the  whiskers"  of  the 
King  of  Spain. 

The  booty  was  divided  among  the  London  mer- 
chants, as  had  been  agreed  upon.  Philip  was  exasper- 
ated and  enraged  beyond  expression  at  this  unexpected 
destruction  of  armaments  which  had  cost  him  so 
much  time  and  money  to  prepare.  His  spirit  was  irri- 
tated and  aroused  by  the  disaster,  not  quelled;  and 
he  immediately  began  to  renew  his  preparations,  mak- 
ing them  now  on  a  still  vaster  scale  than  before. 
The  amount  of  damage  which  Drake  effected  was, 
therefore,  after  all,  of  no  greater  benefit  to  England 
than    putting   back   the    invasion   for   about    a  year. 

At  length,  in  the  summer  of  1588,  the  preparations 
for  the  sailing  of  the  great  armada,  which  was  to  de- 


i8o  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1588 

throne  Elizabeth,  and  bring  back  the  English  nation 
again  under  the  dominion  of  some  papal  prince,  and 
put  down,  finally,  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  Eu- 
rope, were  complete.  Elizabeth  herself,  and  the  Eng- 
lish people,  in  the  mean  time,  had  not  been  idle. 
The  whole  kingdom  had  been  for  months  filled  with 
enthusiasm  to  prepare  for  meeting  the  foe.  Armies 
were  levied  and  fleets  raised.  Every  maritime  town 
furnished  ships;  and  rich  noblemen,  in  many  cases, 
built  or  purchased  vessels  with  their  own  funds,  and 
sent  them  forward  ready  for  the  battle,  as  their  con- 
tribution toward  the  means  of  defense.  A  large  part 
of  the  force  thus  raised  was  stationed  at  Plymouth, 
which  is  the  first  great  sea-port  which  presents  itself 
on  the  English  coast  in  sailing  up  the  Channel.  The 
remainder  of  it  was  stationed  at  the  other  end  of  the 
Channel,  near  the  Straits  of  Dover,  for  it  was  feared 
that,  in  addition  to  the  vast  armament  which  Philip 
was  to  bring  from  Spain,  he  would  raise  another  fleet 
in  the  Netherlands,  which  would,  of  course,  approach 
the  shores  of  England  from  the  German  Ocean. 

Besides  the  fleets,  a  large  army  was  raised.  Twenty 
thousand  men  were  distributed  along  the  southern 
shores  of  England  in  such  positions  as  to  be  most  easily 
concentrated  at  any  point  where  the  armada  might 
attempt  to  land,  and  about  as  many  more  were 
marched  down  the  Thames,  and  encamped  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  to    guard   that    access.     This  en- 


1588]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA       181 

campment  was  at  a  place  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
river,  just  above  its  mouth.  Leicester,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  was  put  in  command  of  this  army.  The 
queen,  however,  herself,  went  to  visit  this  en- 
campment, and  reviewed  the  troops  in  person.  She 
rode  to  and  fro  on  horseback  along  the  lines,  armed 
like  a  warrior.  At  least  she  had  a  corslet  of  polished 
steel  over  her  magnificent  dress,  and  bore  a  general's 
truncheon,  a  richly-ornamented  staff  used  as  a  badge 
of  command.  She  had  a  helmet,  too,  with  a  white 
plume.  This,  however,  she  did  not  wear.  A  page 
bore  it,  following  her,  while  she  rode,  attended  by 
Leicester  and  the  other  generals,  all  mounted  on 
horses  and  splendidly  caparisoned,  from  rank  to  rank, 
animating  the  men  to  the  highest  enthusiasm  by  her 
courageous  bearing,  her  look  of  confidence,  and  her 
smiles. 

She  made  an  address  to  the  soldiers.  She  said  that 
she  had  been  warned  by  some  of  her  ministers  of  the 
danger  of  trusting  herself  to  the  power  of  such  an 
armed  multitude,  for  these  forces  were  not  regularly  en- 
listed troops,  but  volunteers  from  among  the  citizens, 
who  had  suddenly  left  the  ordinary  vocations  and  pur- 
suits of  life  to  defend  their  country  in  this  emergency. 
She  had,  however,  she  said,  no  such  apprehensions  of 
danger.  She  could  trust  herself  without  fear  to  the 
courage  and  fidelity  of  her  subjects,  as  she  had  always, 
during  all  her  reign,  considered  her  greatest    strength 


i82  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1588 

and  safe  guard  as  consisting  in  their  loyalty  and  good 
will.  For  herself,  she  had  come  to  the  camp,  she  as- 
sured them,  not  for  the  sake  of  empty  pageantry  and 
parade,  but  to  take  her  share  with  them  in  the  dan- 
gers, and  toils,  and  terrors  of  the  actual  battle.  If 
Philip  should  land,  they  would  find  their  queen  in  the 
hottest  of  the  conflict,  fighting  by  their  sides.  "1  have," 
said  she,  "1  know,  only  the  body  of  a  weak  and  fee- 
ble woman,  but  1  have  the  heart  of  a  king;  and  I  am 
ready  for  my  God,  my  kingdom,  and  my  people,  to 
have  that  body  laid  down  even  in  the  dust.  If  the 
battle  comes,  therefore,  I  shall  myself  be  in  the  midst 
and  front  of  it,  to  live  or  die  with  you." 

These  were,  thus  fiir,  but  words,  it  is  true,  and  how 
far  Elizabeth  would  have  vindicated  their  sincerity,  if 
the  entrance  of  the  armada  into  the  Thames  had  put 
her  to  the  test,  we  can  not  now  know.  Sir  Francis 
Drake  saved  her  from  the  trial.  One  morning  a  small 
vessel  came  into  the  harbor  at  Plymouth,  where  the 
English  fleet  was  lying,  with  the  news  that  the  ar- 
mada was  coming  up  the  Channel  under  full  sail.  The 
anchors  of  the  fleet  were  immediately  raised,  and 
great  exertions  made  to  get  it  out  of  the  harbor,  which 
was  difficult,  as  the  wind  at  the  time  was  blowing 
directly  in.  The  squadron  got  out  at  last,  as  night 
was  coming  on.  The  next  morning  the  armada  hove 
in  sight,  advancing  from  the  westward  up  the  Channel, 
in  a   vast    crescent,  which    extended   for   seven    miles 


1588]    THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA       183 

from  north  to  south,  and  seemed  to  sweep  the  whole 
sea. 

It  was  a  magnificent  spectacle,  and  it  was  the 
ushering  in  of  that  far  grander  spectacle  still,  of  which 
the  English  Channel  was  the  scene  for  the  ten  days 
which  followed,  during  which  the  enormous  naval  struc- 
tures of  the  armada,  as  they  slowly  made  their  way 
along,  were  followed,  and  fired  upon,  and  harassed  by 
the  smaller,  and  lighter,  and  more  active  vessels  of 
their  English  foes.  The  unv/ieldy  monsters  pressed  on, 
surrounded  and  worried  by  their  nimbler  enemies  like 
hawks  driven  by  kingfishers  through  the  sky.  Day 
after  day  this  most  extraordinary  contest,  half  flight 
and  half  battle,  continued,  every  promontory  on  the 
shores  covered  all  the  time  with  spectators,  who  lis- 
tened to  the  distant  booming  of  the  guns,  and  watched 
the  smoke  which  arose  from  the  cannonading  and 
the  conflagrations.  One  great  galleon  after  another 
fell  a  prey.  Some  were  burned,  some  taken  as  prizes, 
some  driven  ashore;  and  finally,  one  dark  night,  the 
English  sent  a  fleet  of  fire-ships,  all  in  flames,  into 
the  midst  of  the  anchorage  to  which  the  Spaniards 
had  retired,  which  scattered  them  in  terror  and  dis- 
may, and  completed  the  discomfiture  of  the  squadron. 

The  result  was,  that  by  the  time  the  invincible 
armada  had  made  its  way  through  the  Channel,  and 
had  passed  the  Straits  of  Dover,  it  was  so  dispersed, 
and    shattered,  and   broken,  that   its    commanders,  far 


i84  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1588 

from  feeling  any  disposition  to  sail  up  the  Thames, 
were  only  anxious  to  make  good  their  escape  from 
their  indefatigable  and  tormenting  foes.  They  did  not 
dare,  in  attempting  to  make  this  escape,  to  return 
through  the  Channel,  so  they  pushed  northward  into 
the  German  Ocean.  Their  only  course  for  getting 
back  to  Spain  again  was  to  pass  round  the  northern 
side  of  England,  among  the  cold  and  stormy  seas 
that  are  rolling  in  continually  among  the  ragged  rocks 
and  gloomy  islands  which  darken  the  ocean  there. 
At  last  a  miserable  remnant  of  the  fleet  —  less  than 
half — made  their  way  back  to  Spain  again. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

The  Earl  of  Essex. 

Character  of  Essex. —  Death  of  Leicester. —  E.ssex  becomes  the  queen's  favor- 
ite.—  Cecil  and  Essex. ^  Elizabeth's  regard  for  Essex. —  His  impulsive 
bravery. —  Essex's  ardor  for  battle. —  His  duel. —  Elizabeth's  remarks 
upon  the  duel. —  She  gives  Essex  a  ring. —  The  quarrel. —  The  box  ou  the 
ear. —  Mortification  of  Essex. —  He  and  Elizabeth  reconciled. —  Esifx 
sent  to  Ireland. —  Curious  negotiations. —  The  queen's  displeasure. —  Es- 
sex's sudden  return.— Essex  is  arrested. —  Resentment  and  love. —  Es- 
sex's anger  and  chagrin. —  He  is  taken  sick. —  Nature  of  Essex's  sickness. 

—  The  queen's  anxiety. — The  queen's  kindness  to  Essex. —  They  are 
reconciled  again. —  Essex's  promises. —  The  queen's  ungenerous  conduct. 

—  Essex's  monopoly  of  wiues. —  The  queen  refuses  to  renew  it. —  Essez 
made  desperate. —  His  treasonable  schemes. —  Ramification  of  the  plot. 

—  It  is  discovered. —  Anxious  deliberations. —  The  rising  determined 
upon. —  The  hostages. —  Essex  enters  the  city. —  The  proclamation. — 
Essex  unsuccessful. —  Essex's  helpless  condition. —  He  escapes  to  his 
palace. —  Essex  made  prisoner,  tried,  and  condemned. —  His  remorse. — 
Elizabeth's  distress. —  The  ring  not  sent. —  The  v^arrant  signed. — The 
platform. —  Es.sex's  last  words. —  The  closing  scene. —  The  courtier. — 
His   fiendish  pleasure. 

THE  lady  whom  the  Earl  of  Leicester  married 
was,  a  short  time  before  he  married  her,  the 
wife  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  she  had  one 
son,  who,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  became  the 
Earl  of  Essex  in  his  turn.  He  came  to  court,  and 
continued  in  Leicester's  family  after  his  mother's  sec- 
ond marriage.  He  was  an  accomplished  and  elegant 
young   man,  and  was    regarded   with  a   good    deal  of 

(i80 


i86  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1588 

favor  by  the  queen.  He  was  introduced  at  ccurt 
when  he  was  but  seventeen  years  old,  and,  being 
the  step-son  of  Leicester,  he  necessarily  occupied  a 
conspicuous  position;  his  personal  qualities,  joined 
with  this,  soon  gave  him  a  very  high  and  honorable 
name. 

About  a  month  after  the  victory  obtained  by  the 
English  over  the  invincible  arm.ada,  Leicester  was 
seized  with  a  fever  on  a  journey,  and,  after  lingering 
for  a  few  days,  died,  leaving  Essex,  as  it  were,  in 
his  place.  Elizabeth  seems  not  to  have  been  very  in- 
consolable for  her  favorite's  death.  She  directed,  or 
allowed,  his  property  to  be  sold  at  auction,  to  pay 
some  debts  which  he  owed  her  —  or,  as  the  historians 
of  the  day  express  it,  which  he  owed  the  crowtt 
—  and  then  seemed  at  once  to  transfer  her  fondnes;* 
and  affection  to  the  young  Essex,  who  was  at  thaf 
time  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Elizabeth  herself  was 
now  nearly  sixty.  Cecil  was  growing  old  also,  and 
was  somewhat  infirm,  though  he  had  a  sen  who 
was  rapidly  coming  forward  in  rank  and  influence  at 
court.  This  son's  name  was  Robert.  The  young 
Earl  of  Essex's  name  was  Robert  too.  The  elder 
Cecil  and  Leicester  had  been,  all  their  lives,  watchful 
and  jealous  of  each  other,  and  in  some  sense  rivals. 
Robert  Cecil  and  Robert  Devereux  —  for  that  was,  in 
full,  the  Earl  of  Essex's  family  name  —  being  young 
and  ardent,  inherited   the   animosity   of  their  parents 


1588]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  187 

and  were    less    cautious    and    wary   in    expressing    it. 
They  soon  became  open  foes. 

Robert  Devereux,  or  Essex,  as  he  is  commonly 
called  in  history,  was  handsome  and  accomplished, 
ardent,  impulsive,  and  generous.  The  war  with 
Spain,  notwithstanding  the  destruction  of  the  armada, 
continued,  and  Essex  entered  into  it  with  all  zeal. 
The  queen,  who  with  all  her  ambition,  and  her  proud 
and  domineering  spirit,  felt,  like  any  other  woman, 
the  necessity  of  having  something  to  love,  soon  be- 
gan to  take  a  strong  interest  in  his  person  and 
fortunes,  and  seemed  to  love  him  as  a  mother  loves 
a  son;  and  he,  in  his  turn,  soon  learned  to  act  to- 
ward her  as  a  son,  full  of  youthful  courage  and  ardor, 
often  acts  toward  a  mother  over  whose  heart  he  feels 
that  he  has  a  strong  control.  He  would  go  away, 
without  leave,  to  mix  in  affrays  with  the  Spanish  ships 
in  the  English  Channel  and  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and 
then  come  back  and  make  his  peace  with  the  queen 
by  very  humble  petitions  for  pardon,  and  promises 
of  future  obedience.  When  he  went,  with  her  leave, 
on  these  expeditions,  she  would  charge  his  superior 
officers  to  keep  him  out  of  danger;  while  he,  with 
an  impetuosity  which  strongly  marked  his  character, 
would  evade  and  escape  from  all  these  injunctions, 
and  press  forward  into  every  possible  exposure,  always 
eager  to  have  battle  given,  and  to  get,  himself,  into 
the    hottest    part    of  it,  when  it  was  begun.     At  one 


i88  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1598 

time,  off  Cadiz,  the  officers  of  the  English  ships  hes- 
itated some  time  whether  to  venture  an  attack  upon 
some  ships  in  the  harbor — Essex  burning  with  im- 
patience all  the  time  —  and  when  it  was  at  length 
decided  to  make  the  attack,  he  v/as  so  excited  with 
enthusiasm  and  pleasure  that  he  threw  his  cap  up 
into  the  air,  and  overboard,  perfectly  wild  with  de- 
light, like  a  school-boy  in  anticipation  of  a  holiday. 

Ten  years  passed  away,  and  Essex  rose  higher 
and  higher  in  estimation  and  honor.  He  was  some- 
times in  the  queen's  palaces  at  home,  and  sometimes 
away  on  the  Spanish  seas,  where  he  acquired  great 
fame.  He  was  proud  and  imperious  at  court,  relying 
on  his  influence  with  the  queen,  who  treated  him  as 
a  fond  mother  treats  a  spoiled  child.  She  was  often 
vexed  with  his  conduct,  but  she  could  not  help  lov- 
ing him.  One  day,  as  he  was  coming  into  the 
queen's  presence-chamber,  he  saw  one  of  the  cour- 
tiers there  who  had  a  golden  ornament  upon  his 
arm  which  the  queen  had  given  him  the  day  be- 
fore. He  asked  what  it  was:  they  told  him  it  was  a 
"favor"  from  the  queen,  "Ah,"  said  he,  "  1  see  how  it 
is  going  to  be;  every  fool  must  have  his  favor."  The 
courtier  resented  this  mode  of  speaking  of  his  dis- 
tinction, and  challenged  Essex  to  a  duel.  The  com- 
batants met  in  the  Park,  and  Essex  was  disarmed  and 
wounded.  The  queen  heard  of  the  affair,  and,  after 
inquiring  very  curiously  about  all  the    particulars,  she 


1598J  THE  EARL  OF   ESSEX  189 

said  that  she  was  glad  of  it;  for,  unless  there  was 
somebody  to  take  down  his  pride,  there  would  be  no 
such  thing  as  doing  any  thing  with  him. 

Ehzabeth's  feehngs  toward  Essex  fluctuated  in 
strange  alternations  of  fondness  and  displeasure.  At 
one  time,  when  affection  was  in  the  ascendency,  she 
gave  him  a  ring,  as  a  talisman  of  her  protection. 
She  promised  him  that  if  he  ever  should  become  in- 
volved in  troubles  or  difficulties  of  any  kind,  and 
especially  if  he  should  lose  her  favor,  either  by  his 
own  misconduct  or  by  the  false  accusations  of  his  en- 
emies, if  he  would  send  her  that  ring,  it  should 
serve  to  recall  her  former  kind  regard,  and  incline 
her  to  pardon  and  save  him.  Essex  took  the  ring, 
and  preserved  it  with  the  utmost  care. 

Friendship  between  persons  of  such  impetuous  and 
excitable  temperaments  as  Elizabeth  and  Essex  Doth 
possessed,  though  usually  very  ardent  for  a  time,  is 
very  precarious  and  uncertain  in  duration.  After  va- 
rious petulant  and  brief  disputes,  which  were  easily 
reconciled,  there  came  at  length  a  serious  quarrel. 
There  was,  at  that  time,  great  difficulty  in  Ireland;  a 
rebellion  had  broken  out,  in  fact,  which  was  fomented 
and  encouraged  by  Spanish  influence.  Essex  was  one 
day  urging  very  strongly  the  appointment  of  one  of 
his  friends  to  take  the  command  there,  while  the 
queen  was  disposed  to  appoint  another  person.  Essex 
urged  his  views    and  wishes  with  much    importunity. 


I90  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1598 

and  when  he  found  that  the  queen  was  determined  not 
to  yield,  he  turned  his  back  upon  her  in  a  contemptu- 
ous and  angry  manner.  The  queen  lost  patience  in  her 
turn,  and,  advancing  rapidly  to  him,  her  eyes  spark- 
ling with  extreme  resentment  and  displeasure,  she  gave 
him  a  severe  box  on  the  ear,  telling  him  at  the  same 
time,  to  "go  and  be  hanged."  Essex  was  exceedingly 
enraged;  he  clasped  the  handle  of  his  sword,  but  was 
immediately  seized  by  the  other  courtiers  present. 
They,  however,  soon  released  their  hold  upon  him,  and 
he  walked  off  out  of  the  ^apartment,  saying  that  he 
could  not  and  would  not  bear  such  an  insult  as  that. 
He  would  not  have  endured  it,  he  said,  from  King 
Henry  the  Eighth  himself  The  name  of  King  Henry 
the  Eighth,  in  those  days,  was  the  symbol  and  per- 
sonification of  the   highest   possible  human   grandeur. 

The  friends  of  Essex  among  the  courtiers  endeav- 
ored to  soothe  and  calm  him,  and  to  persuade  him  to 
apologize  to  the  queen,  and  seek  a  reconciliation. 
They  told  him  that,  whether  right  or  wrong,  he  ought 
to  yield;  for  in  contests  with  the  law  or  with  a  prince, 
a  man,  they  said,  ought,  if  wrong,  to  submit  himself 
to  justice;  it  right,  to  necessity;  in  either  case,  it  was 
his  duty  to  submit. 

This  was  very  good  philosophy;  but  Essex  was  not 
in  a  state  of  mind  to  listen  to  philosophy.  He  wrote 
a  reply  to  the  friend  who  had  counseled  him  as 
above,    that    "the  queen   had   the    temper  of   a   flint: 


1599]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  191 

that  she  had  treated  him  with  such  extreme  injustice 
and  cruelty  so  many  times  that  his  patience  was  ex- 
hausted, and  he  would  bear  it  no  longer.  He  knew 
well  enough  what  duties  he  owed  the  queen  as 
an  earl  and  grand  marshal  of  England,  but  he  did  not 
understand  being  cuffed  and  beaten  like  a  menial  serv- 
ant-; and  that  his  body  suffered  in  every  part  from 
the  blow  he  had  received." 

His  resentment,  however,  got  soothed  and  softened 
in  time,  and  he  was  again  admitted  to  favor,  though 
the  consequences  of  such  quarrels  are  seldom  fully 
repaired.  The  reconciliation  was,  however,  in  this 
case,  apparently  complete,  and  in  the  following  year 
Essex  was  himself  appointed  the  Governor,  or,  as  styled 
in  those  days,  the  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland.    . 

He  went  to  his  province,  and  took  command  of 
the  forces  which  had  been  collected  there,  and  en- 
gaged zealously  in  the  work  of  suppressing  the  re- 
bellion. For  some  reason  or  other,  however,  he  made 
very  little  progress.  The  name  of  the  leader  of 
the  rebels  was  the  Earl  of  Tyrone.*  Tyrone  wanted 
a  parley,  but  did  not  dare  to  trust  himself  in  Es- 
sex's power.  It  was  at  last,  however,  agreed  that 
the  two  leaders  should  come  down  to  a  river,  one  of 
them  upon  each  side,  and  talk  across  it,  neither  gen- 
eral to  have  any  troops  or  attendants  with  him. 
This    plan    was    carried    into     effect.     Essex,  station- 

*  Spelled  in  the  old  histories  Tir-Oen. 


192  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1599 

ing  a  troop  near  him,  on  a  hill,  rode  down  to  the 
water  on  one  side,  while  Tyrone  came  into  the 
river  as  far  as  his  horse  could  wade  on  the  other, 
and  then  the  two  earls  attempted  to  negotiate  terms 
of  peace  by  shouting  across  the  current  of  the  stream. 

Nothing  effectual  was  accomplished  by  this  and 
some  other  similar  parleys,  and  in  the  mean  time  the 
weeks  were  passing  away,  and  little  was  done  to- 
ward suppressing  the  rebellion.  The  queen  was  dis- 
satisfied. She  sent  Essex  letters  of  complaint  and 
censure.  These  letters  awakened  the  lord  deputy's 
resentment.  The  breach  was  thus  rapidly  widening, 
when  Essex  all  at  once  conceived  the  idea  of  going 
himself  to  England,  without  permission,  and  without 
giving  any  notice  of  his  intention,  to  endeavor,  by 
a  personal  interview,  to  reinstate  himself  in  the  favor 
of  the  queen. 

This  was  a  very  bold  step.  It  was  entirely  con- 
trary to  military  etiquette  for  an  officer  to  leave  his 
command  and  go  home  to  his  sovereign  without  or- 
ders and  without  permission.  The  plan,  however, 
might  have  succeeded.  Leicester  did  once  succeed  in 
such  a  measure;  but  in  this  case,  unfortunately,  it 
failed.  Essex  traveled  with  the  utmost  dispatch, 
crossed  the  Channel,  made  the  best  of  his  way  to 
the  palace  where  the  queen  was  then  residing,  and 
pressed  through  the  opposition  of  all  the  attendants 
into    the   queen's    private    apartment,  in   his   traveling 


1599]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  193 

dress,  soiled  and  way-worn.     The  queen  was  at  her 
toilet,   with  her  hair  dov/n  over   her  eyes.     Essex  fell 
on  his  knees   before  her,  kissed  her   hand,  and   made 
great  professions  of  gratitude  and  love,  and  of  an  ex- 
treme   desire    to    deserve    and    enjoy    her   favor.     The 
queen  was    astonished    at    his   appearance,  but    Essex 
thought     that     she    received    him    kindly.     He    went 
away  after  a  short  interview,  greatly  pleased  with  the 
prospect   of  a    favorable   issue    to   the  desperate   step 
he    had    taken.     His    joy,    however,    was    soon    dis- 
pelled.    In    the    course    of  the  day  he    was    arrested 
b'v  order  of  the  queen,  and  sent   to  his    house    under 
the  custody  of  an  officer.     He  had    presumed  too  far. 
Essex    was   kept    thus   secluded    and   confined   for 
some  time.     His  house  was  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
None  of  his  friends,   not  even  his   countess,  were   al- 
lowed   access    to    him.     His    impetuous    spirit    wore 
itself  out   in  chafing  against  the  restraints   and  means 
of  coercion   which  were   pressing   upon  him;   but   he 
would  not  submit.     The  mind  of  the  queen,  too,  was 
deeply  agitated  all  the  time  by  that  most  tempestuous 
of  all  mental  conflicts,  a  struggle  between  resentment 
and  love.     Her  affection  for  her   proud-spirited  favor- 
ite seemed  as  strong  as  ever,  but  she  was  determined 
to  make  him  yield  in  the  contest  she  had  commenced 
with   him.     How    often    cases    precisely   similar   occur 
in  less  conspicuous  scenes  of  action,  where  they  who 
Jove  each    other  with  a  sincere  and   uncontrollable  af- 

M.  of  H.— 16— 13 


194  QUEEN   ELIZABETH  [1599 

fection  take  their  stand  in  attitudes  of  hostility,  each 
determined  that  the  obstinacy  of  the  other  shall  give 
way,  and  each  heart  persisting  in  its  own  determina- 
tion, resentment  and  love  struggling  all  the  time  in  a 
dreadful  contest,  which  keeps  the  soul  in  a  perpetual 
commotion,  and  allows  of  no  peace  till  either  the 
obstinacy  yields  or  the  love  is  extinguished  and  gone. 

It  was  indirectly  made  known  to  Essex  that  if  he 
would  confess  his  fault,  ask  the  queen's  forgiveness, 
and  petition  for  a  release  from  confinement,  in  order 
that  he  might  return  to  his  duties  in  Ireland,  the  dif- 
ficulty could  be  settled.  But  no,  he  would  make  no 
concessions.  The  queen,  in  retaliation,  increased  the 
pressure  upon  him.  The  more  strongly  he  felt  the 
pressure,  the  more  his  proud  and  resentful  spirit  was 
aroused.  He  walked  his  room,  his  soul  boiling  with 
anger  and  chagrin,  while  the  queen,  equally  distressed 
and  harassed  by  the  conflict  in  her  own  soul,  still 
persevered,  hoping  every  day  that  the  unbending 
spirit  with  which  she  was  contending  would  yield  at 
last. 

At  length  the  tidings  came  to  her  that  Essex,  worn 
out  with  agitation  and  suffering,  was  seriously  sick. 
The  historians  doubt  whether  his  sickness  was  real 
or  feigned;  but  there  is  not  much  difficulty  in  under- 
standing, from  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  what 
its  real  nature  was.  Such  mental  conflicts  as  those 
which    he   endured   suspend   the    powers  of  digestion 


1599]  IHE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  195 

and  accelerate  the  pulsations  of  the  heart,  which  beats 
in  the  bosom  with  a  preternatural  frequency  and 
force,  like  a  bird  fluttering  to  get  free  from  a  snare. 
The  result  is  a  sort  of  fever  burning  slowly  in  the 
veins,  and  an  emaciation  which  wastes  the  strength 
away,  and,  in  impetuous  and  uncontrollable  spirits, 
like  that  of  Essex,  sometimes  exhausts  the  powers  of 
life  altogether.  The  sickness,  therefore,  though  of 
mental  origin,  becomes  bodily  and  real;  but  then  the 
sufferer  is  often  ready,  in  such  cases,  to  add  a  little 
to  it  by  feigning.  An  instinct  teaches  him  that 
nothing  is  so  likely  to  move  the  heart  whose  cruelty 
causes  him  to  suffer,  as  a  knowledge  of  the  extreme 
to  which  it  has  reduced  him.  Essex  was  doubtless 
willing  that  Elizabeth  should  know  that  he  was  sick. 
Her  knowing  it  had,  in  some  measure,  the  usual  effect. 
It  reawakened  and  strengthened  the  love  she  had  felt 
for  him,  but  did  not  give  it  absolutely  the  victory. 
She  sent  eight  physicians  to  him,  to  examine  and 
consult  upon  his  case.  She  caused  some  broth  to  be 
made  for  him,  and  gave  it  to  one  of  these  physicians 
to  carry  to  him,  directing  the  messenger,  in  a  falter- 
ing voice,  to  say  to  Essex  that  if  it  were  proper  to 
do  so  she  would  have  come  to  see  him  herself.  She 
then  turned  away  to  hide  her  tears.  Strange  incon- 
sistency of  the  human  heart  —  resentment  and  anger 
holding  their  ground  in  the  soul  against  the  object  of 
such  deep    and   unconquerable   love.     It  would  be  in- 


196  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1599 

credible,  were  it  not  that  probably  every  single  one 
of  all  the  thousands  who  may  read  this  story  has  ex- 
perienced the  same. 

Nothing  has  so  great  an  effect  in  awakening  in 
the  heart  a  strong  sentiment  of  kindness  as  the  per- 
formance of  a  kind  act.  Feeling  originates  and  con- 
trols action,  it  is  true,  but  then,  on  the  other  hand, 
action  has  a  prodigious  power  in  modifying  feeling. 
Elizabeth's  acts  of  kindness  to  Essex  in  his  sickness 
produced  a  renewal  of  her  tenderness  for  him  so 
strong  that  her  obstinacy  and  anger  gave  way  before 
it,  and  she  soon  began  to  desire  some  mode  of  re- 
leasing him  from  his  confinement,  and  restoring  him 
to  favor.  Essex  was  softened  too.  In  a  word,  there 
was  finally  a  reconciliation,  though  it  was  accom- 
plished by  slow  degrees,  and  by  means  of  a  sort  of 
series  of  capitulations.  There  was  an  investigation  of 
his  case  before  the  privy  council,  which  resulted  in  a 
condemnation  of  his  conduct,  and  a  recommendation 
to  the  mercy  of  the  queen;  and  then  followed  some 
communications  between  Essex  and  his  sovereign,  in 
which  he  expressed  sorrow  for  his  faults,  and  made 
satisfactory  promises  for  the  future. 

The  queen,  however,  had  not  magnanimity  enough 
to  let  the  quarrel  end  without  taunting  and  irritating 
the  penitent  with  expressions  of  triumph.  In  reply  to 
his  acknowledgments  and  professions,  she  told  him 
that  she  was  glad  to  hear  of  his  good  intentions,  and 


1599]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  197 

she  hoped  that  he  would  show,  by  his  future  conduct, 
that  he  meant  to  fulfill  them;  that  he  had  tried  her 
patience  for  a  long  time,  but  she  hoped  that  hence- 
forth she  should  have  no  further  trouble.  If  it  had 
been  her  father,  she  added,  instead  of  herself,  that  he 
had  had  to  deal  with,  he  would  not  have  been  par- 
doned at  all.  It  could  not  be  a  very  cordial  recon- 
ciliation which  was  consummated  by  such  words  as 
these.  But  it  was  very  like  Elizabeth  to  utter  them. 
They  who  are  governed  by  their  temper  are  governed 
by  it  even  in  their  love. 

Essex  was  not  restored  to  office.  In  fact,  he  did 
not  wish  to  be  restored.  He  said  that  he  was  re- 
solved henceforth  to  lead  a  private  life.  But  even  in 
respect  to  this  plan  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  queen, 
for  his  private  income  was  in  a  great  measure  derived 
from  a  monopoly,  as  it  is  called,  in  a  certain  kind  of 
wines,  which  had  been  granted  to  him  some  time 
before.  It  was  a  very  customary  mode,  in  those  days, 
of  enriching  favorites,  to  grant  them  monopolies  of 
certain  kinds  of  merchandise,  that  is,  the  exclusive 
right  to  sell  them.  The  persons  to  whom  this  priv- 
ilege was  granted  would  underlet  their  right  to  mer- 
chants in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  on  condition 
of  receiving  a  certain  share  of  the  profits.  Essex  had 
thus  derived  a  great  revenue  from  his  monopoly  of 
wines.  The  grant,  however,  was  expiring,  and  he 
petitioned  the  queen  that  it  might  be  renewed. 


198  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1599 

The  interest  which  Essex  felt  in  the  renewal  of 
this  grant  was  one  of  the  strongest  inducements  to 
lead  him  to  submit  to  the  humiliations  which  he  had 
endured,  and  to  make  concessions  to  the  queen.  But 
he  was  disappointed  in  his  hopes.  The  queen,  elated 
a  little  with  the  triumph  already  attained,  and,  per- 
haps, desirous  of  the  pleasure  of  humbling  Essex  still 
more,  refused  at  present  to  renew  his  monopoly,  say- 
ing that  she  thought  it  would  do  him  good  to  be  re- 
stricted a  little,  for  a  time,  in  his  means.  "Unman- 
ageable beasts,"  she  said,  "had  to  be  tamed  by  being 
stinted  in  their  provender." 

Essex  was  sharply  stung  by  such  a  refusal,  accom- 
panied, too,  by  such  an  insult.  He  was  full  of 
indignation  and  anger.  At  first  he  gave  free  expres- 
sion to  his  feelings  of  vexation  in  conversation  with 
those  around  him.  The  queen,  he  said,  had  got  to 
be  a  perverse  and  obstinate  old  woman,  as  crooked 
in  mind  as  she  was  in  body.  He  had  plenty  of 
enemies  to  listen  to  these  speeches,  and  to  report 
them  in  such  a  way  as  that  they  should  reach  the 
queen.  A  new  breach  was  consequently  opened, 
which  seem.ed   now  wider  than   ever,  and  irreparable. 

At  least  it  seemed  so  to  Essex;  and,  abandoning 
all  plans  for  again  enjoying  the  favor  of  Elizabeth,  he 
began  to  consider  what  he  could  do  to  undermine 
her  power  and  rise  upon  the  ruins  of  it.  The  idea 
was  insanity,  but  passion    always  makes  men  insane. 


i6oo]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  199 

James,  King  of  Scotland,  the  son  and  successor  of 
Mary,  was  the  rightful  heir  to  the  English  throne  after 
Elizabeth's  death.  In  order  to  make  his  right  of  suc- 
cession more  secure,  he  had  wished  to  have  Elizabeth 
acknowledge  it;  but  she,  always  dreading  terribly  the 
thoughts  of  death,  could  never  bear  to  think  of  a  suc- 
cessor, and  seemed  to  hate  every  one  who  entertained 
any  expectation  of  following  her.  Essex  suppressed 
all  outward  expressions  of  violence  and  anger;  be- 
came thoughtful,  moody,  and  sullen;  held  secret  con- 
sultations with  desperate  intriguers,  and  finally  formed 
a  scheme  to  organize  a  rebellion,  to  bring  King 
James's  troops  to  England  to  support  it,  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  Tower  and  of  the  strong-holds  about 
London,  to  seize  the  palace  of  the  queen,  overturn 
her  government,  and  compel  her  both  to  acknowledge 
James's  right  to  the  successicwi  and  to  restore  Essex 
himself  to  power. 

The  personal  character  of  Essex  had  given  him  a 
very  wide-spread  popularity  and  influence,  and  he  had, 
consequently,  very  extensive  materials  at  his  com- 
mand for  organizing  a  powerful  conspiracy.  The  plot 
was  gradually  matured,  extending  itself,  in  the  course 
of  the  few  following  months,  not  only  throughout  Eng- 
land, but  also  into  France  and  Spain.  The  time  for 
the  final  explosion  was  drawing  near,  when,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  intelligence  of  the  existence  of  this 
treason,    in    the   form    of  vague    rumors,    reached   the 


200  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1600 

queen.  One  day,  when  the  leading  conspirators  were 
assembled  at  Essex's  palace,  a  messenger  came  to 
summon  the  earl  to  appear  before  the  council.  They 
received,  also,  private  intelligence  that  their  plots 
were  probably  discovered.  While  they  were  consid- 
ering what  to  do  in  this  emergency  —  all  in  a  state 
of  great  perplexity  and  fear  —  a  person  came,  pretend- 
ing to  be  a  deputy  sent  from  some  of  the  principal 
citizens  of  London,  to  say  to  Essex  that  they  were 
ready  to  espouse  his  cause.  Essex  immediately  be- 
came urgent  to  commence  the  insurrection  at  once. 
Some  of  his  friends,  on  the  other  hand,  were  in  favor 
of  abandoning  the  enterprise,  and  flying  from  the 
country;  but  Essex  said  he  had  rather  be  shot  at  the 
head  of  his  bands,  than  to  wander  all  his  days  beyond 
the  seas,  a  fugitive  and  vagabond. 

The  conspirators  acceded  to  their  leader's  councils. 
They  sent  word,  accordingly,  into  the  city,  and  began 
to  make  their  arrangements  to  rise  in  arms  the  next 
morning.  The  night  was  spent  in  anxious  prepara- 
tions. Early  in  the  morning  a  deputation  of  some  of 
the  highest  officers  of  the  government,  with  a  train  of 
attendants,  came  to  Essex's  palace,  and  demanded  en- 
trance in  the  name  of  the  queen.  The  gates  of  the 
palace  were  shut  and  guarded.  At  last,  after  some 
hesitation  and  delay,  the  conspirators  opened  a  wicket, 
that  is,  a  small  gate  within  the  large  one,  which  would 
admit  one  person  at   a   time.     They  allowed   the  ofiFi- 


i6oo]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  201 

cers  themselves  to  enter,  but  shut  the  gate  immediately 
so  as  to  exclude  the  attendants.  The  officers  found 
themselves  in  a  large  court-yard  filled  with  armed 
men,  Essex  standing  calmly  at  the  head  of  them. 
They  demanded  what  was  the  meaning  of  such  an 
unusual  assemblage.  Essex  replied  that  it  was  to  de- 
fend his  life  from  conspiracies  formed  against  it  by  his 
enemies.  The  officers  denied  this  danger,  and  began 
to  expostulate  with  Essex  in  angry  terms,  and  the  at- 
tendants on  his  side  to  reply  with  vociferations  and 
threats,  when  Essex,  to  end  the  altercation,  took  the 
officers  into  the  palace.  He  conducted  them  to  a 
room  and  shut  them  up,  to  keep  them  as  hostages. 

It  was  now  near  ten  o'clock,  and,  leaving  his  pris- 
oners in  their  apartment,  under  a  proper  guard,  Essex 
sallied  forth,  with  the  more  resolute  and  desperate  of 
his  followers,  and  proceeded  into  the  city,  to  bring  out 
into  action  the  forces  which  he  supposed  were  ready 
to  co-operate  with  him  there.  He  rode  on  through 
the  streets,  calling  to  arms,  and  shouting,  "For  the 
queen!  For  the  queen!"  His  design  was  to  convey 
the  impression  that  the  movement  which  he  was  mak- 
ing was  not  against  the  queen  herself,  but  against  his 
own  enemies  in  her  councils,  and  that  she  was  her- 
self on  his  side.  The  people  of  London,  however, 
could  not  be  so  easily  deceived.  The  mayor  had  re- 
ceived warning  before,  from  the  council,  to  be  ready 
to  suppress    the    movement,  if  one    should    be    made. 


202  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1600 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  Essex  and  his  company  were 
fairly  in  the  city,  the  gates  were  shut  and  barred  to 
prevent  his  return.  One  of  the  queen's  principal  min- 
isters of  state  too,  at  the  head  of  a  small  troop  of 
horsemen,  came  in  and  rode  through  the  streets, 
proclaiming  Essex  a  traitor,  and  calling  upon  all  the 
citizens  to  aid  in  arresting  him.  One  of  Essex's  fol- 
lowers fired  a  pistol  at  this  officer  to  stop  his  procla- 
mation, but  the  people  generally  seemed  disposed  to 
listen  to  him,  and  to  comply  with  his  demand.  After 
riding,  therefore,  through  some  of  the  principal  streets, 
he  returned  to  the  queen,  and  reported  to  her  that  all 
was  well  in  the  city;  there  was  no  danger  that  Essex 
would  succeed  in  raising  a  rebellion  there. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  farther  Essex  proceeded,  the 
more  he  found  himself  environed  with  difficulties  and 
dangers.  The  people  began  to  assemble  here  and  there 
with  evident  intent  to  impede  his  movements.  They 
blocked  up  the  streets  with  carts  and  coaches  to  pre- 
vent his  escape.  His  followers,  one  after  another, 
finding  all  hope  of  success  gone,  abandoned  their  de- 
spairing leader  and  fled.  Essex  himself,  with  the  few 
who  still  adhered  to  him,  wandered  about  till  two 
o'clock,  finding  the  way  of  retreat  everywhere  hemmed 
up  against  him.  At  length  he  fled  to  the  river- 
side, took  a  boat,  with  the  few  who  still  remained 
with  him,  and  ordered  the  watermen  to  row  as  rapidly 
as  possible  up  the  river.     They   landed    at  Westmin- 


i6oo]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  203 

ster,  retreated  to  Essex's  house,  fled  into  it  witii  the 
utmost  precipitation,  and  barricaded  the  doors.  Essex 
himself  was  excited  in  the  highest  degree,  fully  deter- 
mined to  die  there  rather  than  surrender  himself  a 
prisoner.  The  terrible  desperation  to  which  men  are 
reduced  in  emergencies  like  these,  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  one  of  his  followers  did  actually  station  himself 
at  a  window,  bare-headed,  inviting  a  shot  from  the 
pistols  of  the  pursuers,  who  had  by  this  time  environed 
the  house,  and  were  preparing  to  force  their  way  in. 
His  plan  succeeded.     He  was  shot,  and  died  that  night. 

Essex  himself  was  not  quite  so  desperate  as  this. 
He  soon  saw,  however,  that  he  must  sooner  or  later 
yield.  He  could  not  stand  a  siege  in  his  own  private 
dwelling  against  the  whole  force  of  the  English  realm. 
He  sunendered  about  six  in  the  evening,  and  was  sent 
to  the  Tower.  He  was  soon  afterward  brought  to 
trial.  The  facts,  with  all  the  arrangements  and  details 
of  the  conspiracy,  were  fully  proved,  and  he  was  con- 
demned to  die. 

As  the  unhappy  prisoner  lay  in  his  gloomy  dun- 
geon in  the  Tower,  the  insane  excitement  under 
which  he  had  for  so  many  months  been  acting, 
slowly  ebbed  away.  He  awoke  from  it  gradually,  as 
one  recovers  his  senses  after  a  dreadful  dream.  He  saw 
how  utterly  irretrievable  was  the  mischief  which  had 
been  done.  Remorse  for  his  guilt  in  having  attempted 
to    destroy  the  peace    of  the    kingdom    to   gratify  his 


204  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1600 

own  personal  feelings  of  revenge;  recollections  of  the 
favors  which  Elizabeth  had  shown  him,  and  of  the 
love  which  she  had  felt  for  him,  obviously  so  deep 
and  sincere;  the  consciousness  that  his  life  was  fairly 
forfeited,  and  that  he  must  die.  —  to  lie  in  his  cell  and 
think  of  these  things,  overwhelmed  him  with  anguish 
and  despair.  The  brilliant  prospects  which  were  so 
recently  before  him  were  all  forever  gone,  leaving  noth- 
ing in  their  place  but  the  grim  phantom  of  an  execu- 
tioner, standing  with  an  ax  by  the  side  of  a  dreadful 
platform,  with  a  block  upon  it,  half  revealed  and  half 
hidden  by  the  black  cloth  which  covered  it  like  a 
pall. 

Elizabeth,  in  her  palace,  was  in  a  state  ol  mind 
scarcely  less  distressing  than  that  of  the  wretched 
prisoner  in  his  cell.  The  old  conflict  was  renewed — 
pride  and  resentment  on  the  one  side,  and  love  which 
would  not  be  extinguished  on  the  other.  If  Essex 
would  sue  for  pardon,  she  would  remit  his  sentence 
and  allow  him  to  live.  Why  would  he  not  do  it?  If 
he  would  send  her  the  ring,  which  she  had  given  him 
for  exactly  such  an  emergency,  he  might  be  saved. 
Why  did  he  not  send  it  ?  The  courtiers  and  statesmen 
about  her  urged  her  to  sign  the  warrant;  the  peace 
of  the  country  demanded  the  execution  of  the  laws  ir 
a  case  of  such  unquestionable  guilt.  They  told  her,  too, 
that  Essex  wished  to  die,  that  he  knew  that  he  was 
hopelessly    and    irretrievably    ruined,    and   that   life,    if 


i6oo]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  205 

granted  to  him,  was  a  boon  which  would  compromise 
her  own  safety  and  confer  no  benefit  on  him.  Still 
Elizabeth  waited  and  waited  in  an  agony  of  suspense, 
in  hopes  that  the  ring  would  come;  the  sending  of  it 
would  be  so  far  an  act  of  submission  on  his  part  as 
would  put  it  in  her  power  to  do  the  rest.  Her  love 
could  bend  her  pride,  indomitable  as  it  usually  was, 
almost  to  the  whole  concession,  but  it  would  not  give 
up  quite  all.  It  demanded  some  sacrifice  on  his  part, 
which  sacrifice  the  sending  of  the  ring  would  have 
rendered.  The  ring  did  not  come,  nor  any  petition 
for  mercy,  and  at  length  the  fatal  warrant  was  signed. 

What  the  courtiers  said  about  Essex's  desire  to  die 
was  doubtless  true.  Like  every  other  person  involved 
in  irretrievable  suffering  and  sorrows,  he  wanted  to 
live,  and  he  wanted  to  die.  The  two  contradictory 
desires  shared  dominion  in  his  heart,  sometimes  strug- 
gling together  in  a  tumultuous  conflict,  and  sometimes 
reigning  in  alternation,  in  calms  more  terrible,  in  fact, 
than  the  tempests  which  preceded  and  followed  them. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  unhappy  man  was  led 
out  to  the  court-yard  in  the  Tower  where  the  last 
scene  was  to  be  enacted.  The  lieutenant  of  the  Tower 
presided,  dressed  in  a  black  velvet  gown,  over  a  suit 
of  black  satin.  The  "scaffold"  was  a  platform  about 
twelve  feet  square  and  four  feet  high,  with  a  railing 
around  it,  and  steps  by  which  to  ascend.  The  block 
was  in  the  center  of  it,  covered,  as    well  as  the  plat- 


2o6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1600 

form  itself,  with  black  cloth.     There  were  seats  erected 
near  for  those    who    were    appointed  to  be  present  at 
the    execution.     Essex    ascended    the    platform  with  a 
firm    step,    and,  surveying    the    solemn    scene    around 
him  with  calmness  and  composure,  he  began  to  speak. 
He  asked  the  forgiveness  of  God,  of  the  spectators 
present,   and  of  the    queen,  for   the    crimes  for  which 
he  was    about  to  suffer.     He    acknowledged  his  guilt, 
and  the  justice  of  his  condemnation.     His  mind  seemed 
deeply  imbued  with  a   sense    of  his   accountability  to 
God,  and  he  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  be  forgiven, 
for  Christ's  sake,  for  all  the   sins    which  he  had  com- 
mitted, which  had  been,  he  said,  most  numerous  and 
aggravated    from    his    earliest    years.     He    asked    the 
spectators  present   to  join    him    in    his  devotions,  and 
he  then  proceeded    to    offer  a  short   prayer,  in   which 
he    implored    pardon    for    his    sins,    and    a    long    life 
and  happy    reign  for   the   queen.     The   prayer   ended, 
all    was    ready.     The    executioner,    according    to    the 
strange  custom  on  such  occasions,  then  asked  his  par- 
don for  the  violence  which  he  was  about  to  commit, 
which    Essex    readily    granted.     Essex    laid    his    head 
upon  the  block,  and  it  required  three   blows   to  com- 
plete its    severance  from    the   body.     When   the   deed 
was  done,  the  executioner  took  up  the  bleeding  head, 
saying  solemnly,  as  he  held  it,  "God  save  the  queen." 
There    were    but    few    spectators    present    at    this 
dreadful  scene,  and  they  were  chiefly  persons  required 


i6oo]  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX  207 

to  attend  in  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties. 
There  was,  however,  one  exception;  it  was  that  of  a 
courtier  of  high  rank,  who  had  long  been  Essex's  in- 
veterate enemy,  and  who  could  not  deny  himself  the 
savage  pleasure  of  witnessing  his  rival's  destruction. 
But  even  the  stern  and  iron-hearted  officers  of  the 
Tower  were  shocked  at  his  appearing  at  the  scaffold. 
They  urged  him  to  go  away,  and  not  distress  the 
dying  man  by  his  presence  at  such  an  hour.  The 
courtier  yielded  so  far  as  to  withdraw  from  the  scaf- 
fold; but  he  could  not  go  far  away.  He  found  a 
place  where  he  could  stand  unobserved  to  witness 
the  scene,  at  the  window  of  a  turret  which  over- 
looked the  court-yard. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Conclusion. 

Question  of  Essex's  guilt.— General  opinion  of  mankind. —  Elizabeth's  dis- 
tress.—  Fall  of  Essex's  party. —  Wounds  of  the  heart. —  Elizabeth's  efforts 
to  recover  her  spirits. —  Embassage  from  France. —  A  conversation. — 
Thoughts  of  Essex. —  Harrington. —  The  Countess  of  Nottingham.—  The 
Countess  of  Nottingham's  confession. —  The  queen's  indignation. —  Bitter 
reminiscences.—  The  queen  removes  to  Richmond. —  Elizabeth  grows 
worse. —  The  private  chapel  and  the  closets. —  The  wedding  ring. —  The 
queen's  f rieuds  abandon  her. —  The  queen's  voice  fails. —  She  calls  her 
council  together. —  The  chaplains. —  The  prayers. —  The  queen's  death. — 
King  James  proclaimed. —  Burial  of  the  queen. —  Westminster  Abbey. — 
Its  history.—  The  Poets'  Corner.—  Henry  the  Seventh's  Chapel.—  Eliza- 
beth's monument.  — James. —  Mary's  monument. —  Feelings  of  visitors. 
—  Summary  of  Elizabeth's  character. 

THERE  can  be  no  doubt  that  Essex  was  really  guilty 
of  the  treason  for  which  he  was  condemned, 
but  mani<ind  have  generally  been  inclined  to 
consider  Elizabeth  rather  than  him  as  the  one  really 
accountable,  both  for  the  crime  and  its  consequences. 
To  elate  and  intoxicate,  in  the  first  place,  an  ardent 
and  ambitious  boy,  by  flattery  and  favors,  and  then, 
in  the  end,  on  the  occurrence  of  real  or  fancied  causes 
of  displeasure,  to  tease  and  torment  so  sensitive  and 
(ao8) 


i6oi]  THE  CONCLUSION  209 

impetuous  a  spirit  to  absolute  madness  and  phrensy, 
was  to  take  tiie  responsibility,  in  a  great  measure,  for 
all  the  effects  whi„h  might  follow.  At  least  so  it 
has  generally  been  regarded.  By  almost  all  the  readers 
of  the  story,  Essex  is  pitied  and  mourned  —  it  is 
Elizabeth  that  is  condemned,  it  is  a  melancholy  story; 
but  scenes  exactly  parallel  to  this  case  are  continually 
occurring  in  private  life  all  around  us,  where  sorrows 
and  sufferings  which  are,  so  far  as  the  heart  is  con- 
cerned, precisely  the  same  result  from  the  combined 
action,  or  rather,  perhaps,  the  alternating  and  con- 
tending action,  of  fondness,  passion,  and  obstinacy. 
The  results  are  always,  in  their  own  nature,  the 
same,  though  not  often  on  so  great  a  scale  as  to 
make  the  wrong  which  follows  , treason  against  a 
realm,  and  the  consequences  a  beheading  in  the 
Tower. 

There  must  have  been  some  vague  consciousness 
of  this  her  share  in  the  guilt  of  the  transaction  in 
Elizabeth's  mind,  even  while  the  trial  of  Essex  was 
going  on.  We  know  that  she  was  harassed  by  the 
most  tormenting  suspense  and  perplexity  while  the 
question  of  the  execution  of  his  sentence  was  pend- 
ing. Of  course,  when  the  plot  was  discovered,  Es- 
sex's party  and  all  his  friends  fell  immediately  from 
all  influence  and  consideration  at  court.  Many  of 
them  were  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and  four  were 
executed,    as    he    had    been.     The    party   which    had 

M.  of  H. — i6 — 14 


2IO  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1601 

been  opposed  to  him  acquired  at  once  the  entire 
ascendency,  and  they  all,  judges,  counselors,  states- 
men, and  generals,  combined  their  influence  to  press 
upon  the  queen  the  necessity  of  his  execution.  She 
signed  one  warrant  and  delivered  it  to  the  officer; 
but  then,  as  soon  as  the  deed  was  done,  she  was 
so  overwhelmed  with  distress  and  anguish  tljat  she 
sent  to  recall  it,  and  had  it  canceled.  Finally  she 
signed  another,  and  the  sentence  was  executed. 

Time  will  cure,  in  our  earlier  years,  most  of  the 
sufferings,  and  calm  most  of  the  agitations  of  the 
soul,  however  incurable  and  uncontrollable  they  may 
at  first  appear  to  the  sufferer.  But  in  the  later  peri- 
ods of  life,  when  severe  shocks  strike  very  heavily 
upon  the  sou!,  there  is  found  far  less  of  buovancy 
and  recovering  power  to  meet  the  blow.  In  such 
cases  the  stunned  and  bewildered  spirit  moves  on, 
after  receiving  its  wound,  staggering,  as  it  were, 
with  faintness  and  pain,  and  leaving  it  for  a  long 
time  uncertain  whether  it  will  ultimately  rise  and 
recover,  or  sink  down  and  die. 

Dreadfully  wounded  as  Elizabeth  was,  in  all  the 
inmost  feelings  and  affections  of  her  heart,  by  the 
execution  of  her  beloved  favorite,  she  was  a  woman 
of  far  too  m.uch  spirit  and  energy  to  yield  without 
a  struggle.  She  made  the  greatest  efforts  possible 
after  his  death  to  banish  the  subject  from  her  mind, 
and    to    recover   her   wonted    spirits.     She    went    on 


i6oa]  THE  CONCLUSION  211 

hunting  excursions  and  parties  of  pleasure.  She 
prosecuted  with  great  energy  her  war  with  the 
Spaniards,  and  tried  to  interest  herself  in  the  siege 
and  defense  of  Continental  cities.  She  received  an 
embassage  from  the  court  of  France  with  great  pomp 
and  parade,  and  made  a  grand  progress  through  a 
part  of  her  dominions,  with  a  long  train  of  attend- 
ants, to  the  house  of  a  nobleman,  where  she  enter- 
tained the  embassador  many  days  in  magnificent 
state,  at  her  own  expense,  with  plate  and  furniture 
brought  from  her  own  palaces  for  the  purpose.  She 
even  planned  an  interview  between  herself  and  the 
King   of  Frai  :e,   and  went  to  Dover  to   effect  it. 

But  all  would  not  do.  Nothing  could  drive  the 
thoughts  of  Essex  from  her  mind,  or  dispel  the  de- 
jection with  which  the  recollection  of  her  love  for 
him,  and  of  his  unhappy  fate,  oppressed  her  spirit.  A 
year  or  two  passed  away,  but  time  brought  no  relief. 
Sometimes  she  was  fretful  and  peevish,  and  some- 
times hopelessly  dejected  and  sad.  She  told  the 
French  embassador  one  day  that  she  was  weary  of 
her  life,  and  when  she  attempted  to  speak  of  Essex 
as  the  cause  of  her  grief,  she  sighed  bitterly  and 
burst  into  tears. 

When  she  recovered  her  composure,  she  told  the 
embassador  that  she  had  always  been  uneasy  about 
Essex  while  he  lived,  and,  knowing  his  impetuosity 
of  spirit   and   his    ambition,  she   had   been  afraid  that 


212  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1602 

he  would  one  day  attempt  something  which  would 
compromise  his  life,  and  she  had  warned  and  en- 
treated him  not  to  be  led  into  any  such  designs,  for, 
if  he  did  so,  his  fate  would  have  to  be  decided  by 
the  stern  authority  of  law,  and  not  by  her  own  in- 
dulgent feelings,  but  that  all  her  earnest  warnings 
had  been  insufficient  to  save  him. 

It  was  the  same  whenever  anything  occurred 
which  recalled  thoughts  of  Essex  to  her  mind;  it 
almost  always  brought  tears  to  her  eyes.  When 
Essex  was  commanding  in  Ireland,  it  will  be  recol- 
lected that  he  had,  on  one  occasion,  come  to  a  parley 
with  Tyrone,  the  rebel  leader,  across  th>  current  of  a 
stream.  An  officer  in  his  army,  named  Harrington, 
had  been  with  him  on  this  occasion,  and  present, 
though  at  a  little  distance,  during  the  interview. 
After  Essex  had  left  Ireland,  another  lord-deputy  had 
been  appointed;  but  the  rebellion  continued  to  give 
the  government  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  The  Span- 
iards came  over  to  Tyrone's  assistance,  and  Elizabeth's 
mind  v/as  much  occupied  with  plans  for  subduing 
him.  One  day  Harrington  was  at  court  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  queen,  and  she  asked  him  if  he  had  ever 
seen  Tyrone.  Harrington  replied  that  he  had.  The 
queen  then  recollected  the  former  interview  which 
Harrington  had  had  with  him,  and  she  said,  ''Oh, 
now  I  recollect  that  you  have  seen  him  before!" 
This  thought  recalled  Essex  so    forcibly  to   her  mind, 


i6o2]  THE  CONCLUSION  213 

and  filled  her  with  such  painful  emotions,  that  she 
looked  up  to  Harrington  with  a  countenance  full  of 
grief;  tears  came  to  her  eyes,  and  she  beat  her  breast 
v/ith  every  indication  of  extreme  mental  suffering. 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  until  toward  the  close 
of  1602,  when  an  incident  occurred  which  seemed  to 
strike  down  at  once  and  forever  what  little  strength 
and  spirit  the  queen  had  remaining.  The  Countess  of 
Nottingham,  a  celebrated  lady  of  the  court,  was  dan- 
gerously sick,  and  had  sent  for  the  queen  to  come 
and  see  her,  saying  that  she  had  a  communication  to 
make  to  her  majesty  herself,  personally,  which  she  was 
very  anxious  to  make  to  her  before  she  died.  The 
queen  went  accordingly  to  see  her. 

When  she  'arrived  at  the  bedside  the  countess 
showed  her  a  ring.  Elizabeth  immediately  recognized 
it  as  the  ring  which  she  had  given  to  Essex,  and 
which  she  had  promised  to  consider  a  special  pledge 
of  her  protection,  and  which  was  to  be  sent  to  her 
by  him,  whenever  he  found  himself  in  any  extremity 
of  danger  and  distress.  The  quesn  eagerly  demanded 
where  it  came  from.  The  countess  replied  that  Essex 
had  sent  the  ring  to  her  during  his  imprisonment  in 
the  Tower,  and  after  his  condemnation,  with  an 
earnest  request  that  she  would  deliver  it  to  the  queen 
as  a  token  of  her  prom.ise  of  protection,  and  of  his 
own  supplication  for  mercy.  The  countess  added 
that  she  had  intended  to  deliver  the  ring  according  to 


214  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1602 

Essex's  request,  but  her  husband,  who  was  the  un- 
happy prisoner's  enemy,  forbade  her  to  do  it;  that 
ever  since  the  execution  of  Essex  she  had  been  greatly 
distressed  at  the  consequences  of  having  withheld  the 
ring;  and  that  now,  as  she  was  about  to  leave  the 
world  herself,  she  felt  that  she  could  not  die  in  peace 
without  first  seeing  the  queen,  and  acknowledging 
fully  what  she  had  done,  and  imploring  her^  forgive- 
ness. 

The  queen  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  exueme 
indignation  and  displeasure  by  this  statement.  She 
reproached  the  dying  countess  in  the  bitterest  terms, 
and  shook  her  as  she  lay  helpless  in  her  bed,  saying, 
"God  may  forgive  you  if  He  pleases,  but  /  never 
will."     She  then  went  away  in  a  rage. 

Her  exasperation,  however,  against  the  countess, 
was  soon  succeeded  by  bursts  of  inconsolable  grief  at 
the  recollection  of  the  hopeless  and  irretrievable  loss  of 
the  object  of  her  affection,  whose  image  the  ring  called 
back  so  forcibly  to  her  mind.  Her  imagination  wan- 
dered in  wretchedness  and  despair  to  the  gloomy 
dungeon  in  the  Tower  where  Essex  had  been  con- 
fined, and  painted  him  pining  there,  day  after  day,  "in 
dreadful  suspense  and  anxiety,  waiting  for  her  to  re- 
deem the  solemn  pledge  by  which  she  had  bound  her- 
self in  giving  him  the  ring.  All  the  sorrow  which  she 
had  felt  at  his  untimely  and  cruel  fate  was  awakened 
afresh,  and  became  more  poignant  than  ever.     She  made 


i6o3]  THE  CONCLUSION  215 

them  place  cushions  for  her  upon  the  floor,  in  the 
most  inner  and  secluded  of  her  apartments,  and  there 
she  would  lie  all  the  day  long,  her  hair  disheveled, 
her  dress  neglected,  her  food  refused,  and  her  mind  a 
prey  to  almost  uninterrupted  anguish  and  grief. 

In  January,  1603,  she  felt  that  she  was  drawing 
toward  her  end,  and  she  decided  to  be  removed  from 
Westminster  to  Richmond,  because  there  was  there  an 
arrangement  of  closets  communicating  with  her  cham- 
ber, in  which  she  could  easily  and  conveniently  attend 
divine  service.  She  felt  that  she  had  now  done  with 
the  world,  and  all  the  relief  and  comfort  which  she 
could  find  at  all  from  the  pressure  of  her  distress  was 
in  that  sense  of  protection  and  safety  which  she  experi- 
enced when  in  the  presence  of  God  and  listening  to 
the  exercises  of  devotion. 

It  was  a  cold  and  stormy  day  in  January  when 
she  went  to  Richmond;  but,  being  restless  and  ill  at 
ease,  she  would  not  be  deterred  by  that  circumstance 
from  making  the  journey.  She  became  worse  after 
this  removal.  She  made  them  put  cushions  again 
for  her  upon  the  floor,  and  she  would  lie  upon  them 
all  the  day,  refusing  to  go  to  her  bed.  There  was  a 
communication  from  her  chamber  to  closets  connected 
with  a  chapel,  where  she  had  been  accustomed  to  sit 
and  hear  divine  service.  These  closets  were  of  the 
form  of  small  galleries,  where  the  queen  and  her  im- 
mediate  attendants    could    sit.     There    was  one   open 


2i6  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1603 

and  public;  another  —  a  smaller  one — was  private,  with 
curtains  which  could  be  drawn  before  it,  so  as  to  screen 
those  within  from  the  notice  of  the  congregation.  The 
queen  intended,  first,  to  go  into  the  great  closet;  but, 
feeling  too  weak  for  this,  she  changed  her  mind,  and 
ordered  the  private  one  to  be  prepared.  At  last  she 
decided  not  to  attempt  to  make  even  this  effort,  but 
ordered  the  cushions  to  be  put  down  upon  the  floor, 
near  the  entrance,  in  her  own  room,  and  she  lay  there 
while  the  prayers  were  read,  listening  to  the  voice  of 
the  clergyman  as  it  came  in  to  her  through  the  open 
door. 

One  day  she  asked  them  to  take  off  the  wedding 
ring  with  which  she  had  commemorated  her  espousal 
to  her  kingdom  and  her  people  on  the  day  of  her 
coronation.  The  flesh  had  swollen  around  it  so  that 
it  could  not  be  removed.  The  attendants  procured 
an  instrument  and  cut  it  in  two,  and  so  relieved  the 
finger  from  the  pressure.  The  work  was  done  in 
silence  and  solemnity,  the  queen  herself,  as  wea  as 
the  attendants,  regarding  it  as  a  symbol  that  the 
union,  of  which  the  ring  had  been  the  pledge,  was 
about  to  be  sundered  forever. 

She  sank  rapidly  day  by  day,  and,  as  it  became 
more  and  more  probable  that  she  would  soon  cease 
to  live,  the  nobles  and  statesmen  who  had  been  at- 
tendants at  her  court  for  so  many  years  withdrew 
one   after    another    from    the    palace,  and   left  London 


LAST     MOMHNTS     OF     ELIZABETH. 


i6o3]  '  THE  CONCLUSION  217 

secretly,  but  with  eager  dispatcli,  to  make  their  way 
to  Scotland,  in  order  to  be  the  first  to  hail  King 
James,  the  moment  they  should  learn  that  Elizabeth 
had  ceased  to  breathe. 

Her  being  abandoned  thus  by  these  heartless 
friends  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  dying  queen. 
Though  her  strength  of  body  was  almost  gone,  the 
soul  was  as  active  and  busy  as  ever  within  its  failing 
tenement.  She  watched  every  thing  —  noticed  every 
thing,  growing  more  and  more  jealous  and  irritable 
just  in  proportion  as  her  situation  became  helpless 
and  forlorn.  Every  thing  seemed  to  conspire  to  deepen 
the  despondency  and  gloom  which  darkened  her  dy- 
ing hours. 

Her  strength  rapidly  declined.  Her  voice  grew 
fainter  and  fainter,  until,  on  the  23d  of  March,  she 
could  no  longer  speak.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
she  aroused  herself  a  little,  and  contrived  to  make 
signs  to  have  her  council  called  to  her  bedside.  Those 
who  had  not  gone  to  Scotland  came.  They  asked 
her  whom  she  wished  to  have  succeed  her  on  the 
throne.  She  could  not  answer,  but  when  they  named 
King  James  ot  Scotland,  she  made  a  sign  Oi  assent. 
After  a  time  the  counselors  went  away. 

At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  she  made  signs  for 
the  archbishop  and  her  chaplains  to  come  to  her. 
They  were  sent  tor  and  came.  When  they  came  in, 
they   approached    her  bedside  and   kneeled.     The  pa- 


2i8  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1603 

tient  was  lying  upon  her  back  speechless,  but  her 
eyes,  still  moving  watchfully  and  observing  every- 
thing, showed  that  the  faculties  of  the  soul  were  un- 
impaired. One  of  the  clergymen  asked  her  questions 
respecting  her  faith.  Of  course,  she  could  not  answer 
in  words.  She  made  signs,  however,  with  her  eyes 
and  her  hands,  which  seemed  to  prove  that  she  had 
full  possession  of  all  her  faculties.  The  by  standers 
looked  on  with  breathless  attention.  The  aged  bishop, 
who  had  asked  the  questions,  then  began  to  pray 
for  her.  He  continued  his  prayer  a  long  time,  and 
then  pronouncing  a  benediction  upon  her,  he  was 
about  to  rise,  but  she  made  a  sign.  The  bishop  did 
not  understand  what  she  meant,  but  a  lady  present 
said  that  she  wished  the  bishop  to  continue  his  devo- 
tions. The  bishop,  though  weary  with  kneeling,  con- 
tinued his  prayer  half  an  hour  longer.  He  then  closed 
again,  but  she  repeated  the  sign.  The  bishop,  find- 
ing thus  that  his  ministrations  gave  her  so  much 
comfort,  renewed  them  with  greater  fervency  than 
before,  and  continued  his  supplications  for  a  long 
time  —  so  long,  that  those  who  had  been  present  at 
the  commencement  of  the  service  went  away  softly, 
one  after  another,  so  that  when  at  last  the  bishop 
retired,  the  queen  was  left  with  her  nurses  and  her 
women  alone.  These  attendants  remained  at  theif 
dying  sovereign's  bedside  for  a  few  hours  longer, 
watchmg   the   failing    pulse,  the  quickened    breathing 


i6o3]  THE  CONCLUSION  219 

and  all  the  other  indications  of  approaching  dissolu- 
tion. As  hour  after  hour  thus  passed  on,  they  wished 
that  their  weary  task  was  done,  and  that  both  their 
patient  and  themselves  were  at  rest.  This  lasted  till 
midnight,  and  then  the  intelligence  was  communi- 
cated about  the  palace  that  Elizabeth  was  no  more. 

In  the  mean  time  all  the  roads  to  Scotland  were 
covered,  as  it  were,  with  eager  aspirants  for  the  fa- 
vor of  the  distinguished  personage  there,  who,  from 
the  instant  Elizabeth  ceased  to  breathe,  became  King 
of  England.  They  flocked  into  Scotland  by  sea  and 
by  land,  urging  their  way  as  rapidly  as  possible,  each 
eager  to  be  foremost  in  paying  his*  homage  to  the 
rising  sun.  The  council  assembled  and  proclaimed 
King  James.  Elizabeth  lay  neglected  and  forgotten. 
The  interest  she  had  inspired  was  awakened  only  by 
her  power,  and  that  being  gone,  nobody  mourned  for 
her,  or  lamented  her  death.  The  attention  of  the 
kingdom  was  soon  universally  absorbed  in  the  plans 
for  receiving  and  proclaiming  the  new  monarch  from 
the  North,  and  .in  anticipations  of  the  splendid  pag- 
eantry which  was  to  signalize  his  taking  his  seat 
upon  the  English  throne. 

In  due  time  the  body  of  the  deceased  queen  was  de- 
posited with  those  of  her  progenitors,  in  the  ancient  place 
of  sepulture  of  the  English  kings,  Westminster  Abbey. 
Westminster  Abbey,  in  the  sense  in  which  that  term 
is  used  in  history,  is  not  to  be  conceived  of  as  a  build- 


220  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1603 

ing,  nor  even  as  a  group  of  buildings,  but  rather  as  a 
long  succession  of  buildings,  like  a  dynasty,  following 
each  other  in  a  line,  the  various  structures  having  been 
renewed  and  rebuilt  constantly,  as  parts  or  wholes  de- 
cayed, from  century  to  century,  for  twelve  or  fifteen 
hundred  years.  The  spot  received  its  consecration  at  a 
very  early  day.  It  was  then  an  island  formed  by  the 
waters  of  a  little  tributary  to  the  Thames,  which  has 
long  since  entirely  disappeared.  Written  records  of 
its  sacredness,  and  of  the  sacred  structures  which 
have  occupied  it,  go  back  more  than  a  thousand  years, 
and  beyond  that  time  tradition  mounts  still  further, 
carrying  the  consecration  of  the  spot  almost  to  the 
Christian  era,  by  telling  us  that  the  Apostle  Peter  him 
self,  in  his  missionary  wanderings,  had  a  chapel  or  an 
oratory  there. 

The  spot  has  been,  in  all  ages,  the  burial-place 
of  the  English  kings,  whose  monuments  and  effigies 
adorn  its  walls  and  aisles  in  endless  variety.  A  vast 
number,  too,  of  the  statesmen,  generals,  and  naval 
heroes  of  the  British  empire  have  been  admitted  to 
the  honor  of  having  their  remains  deposited  under 
its  marble  floor.  Even  literary  genius  has  a  little 
corner  assigned  it — the  mighty  aristocracy  whose 
mortal  remains  it  is  the  main  function  of  the  build- 
ing to  protect  having  so  far  condescended  toward 
intellectual  greatness  as  to  allow  10  Milton,  Addison, 
and    Shakspeare    modest   monuments   behind   a   door. 


i6o3l  THE  CONCLUSION  221 

The  phce  is  called  the  Poet's  Corner;  and  so  famed 
and  celebrated  is  this  vast  edifice  every  where,  that 
the  phrase  by  which  even  this  obscure  and  insignifi- 
cant portion  of  it  is  known  is  familiar  to  every  ear 
and  every  tongue  throughout  the  English  world. 

The  body  of  Elizabeth  was  interred  in  a  part  of 
the  edifice  called  Henry  the  Seventh's  Chapel.  The 
word  chapel,  in  the  European  sense,  denotes  ordina- 
rily a  subordinate  edifice  connected  with  the  main 
body  of  a  church,  and  opening  into  it.  Most  fre- 
quently, in  fact,  a  chapel  is  a  mere  recess  or  alcove, 
separated  from  the  area  of  the  church  by  a  small 
screen  or  gilded  iron  railing.  In  the  Catholic 
churches  these  chapels  are  ornamented  with  sculp- 
tures and  paintings,  with  altars  and  crucifixes,  and 
other  such  furniture.  Sometimes  they  are  built  ex- 
pressly as  monumental  structures,  in  which  case 
they  are  often  of  considerable  size,  and  are  orna- 
mented with  great  magnificence  and  splendor.  This 
was  the  case  with  Henry  the  Seventh's  Chapel.  The 
whole  building  is,  in  fact,  his  tomb.  Vast  sums 
were  expended  in  the  construction  of  it,  the  work 
of  which  extended  through  two  reigns.  It  is  now 
one  of  the  most  attractive  portions  of  the  great 
pile  which  it  adorns.  Elizabeth's  body  was  depos- 
ited here,  and    here  her  monument  was  erected. 

it  will  be  recollected  that  James,  who  now  suc- 
ceeded  Elizabeth,    was  the  son    of    Mary   Queen    of 


222  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  [1603 

Scots.  Soon  after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he 
removed  the  remains  of  his  mother  from  their 
place  of  sepulture  near  the  scene  of  her  execution, 
and  interred  them  in  the  south  aisle  of  Henry  the 
Seventh's  Chapel,  while  the  body  of  Elizabeth  oc- 
cupied the  northern  one.*  He  placed,  also,  over 
Mary's  remains,  a  tomb  very  similar  in  its  plan  and  de- 
sign to  that  by  which  the  memory  of  Elizabeth  was 
honored;  and  there  the  rival  queens  have  since  re- 
posed in  silence  and  peace  under  the  same  paved 
floor.  And  though  the  monuments  do  not  materi- 
ally differ  in  their  architectural  forms,  it  is  found  that 
the  visitors  who  go  continually  to  the  spot  gaze 
with  a  brief  though  lively  interest  at  the  one, 
while  they  linger  long  and  mournfully  over  the  other. 

The  character  of  Elizabeth  has  not  generally  awak- 
ened among  mankind  much  commendation  or  sympa- 
thy. They  who  censure  or  condemn  her  should,  how- 
ever, reflect  how  very  conspicuous  was  the  stage  on 
which  she  acted,  and  how  minutely  all  her  faults  have 
been  paraded  to  the  world.  That  she  deserved  the  re- 
proaches which  have  been  so  freely  cast  upon  her 
memory  cannot  be  denied.     It  will  moderate,  however. 


*See  our  history  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  near  the  dose.  Aisles 
in  English  Cathedral  churches  are  colonnades,  or  spaces  between  col- 
umns on  an  open  floor,  and  not  passages  between  pews,  as  with  us. 
In  monumental  churches  like  Westminster  Abbey  there  are  no  pews. 


i6o3j  THE  CONCLUSION  223 

any  tendency  to  censoriousness  in  our  mode  of  utter- 
ing them,  if  we  consider  to  how  little  advantage  we 
should  ourselves  appear,  if  all  the  words  of  fretfulness 
and  irritability  which  we  have  ever  spoken,  all  our 
insincerity  and  double-dealing,  our  selfishness,  our 
pride,  our  petty  resentments,  our  caprice,  and  our 
countless  follies,  were  exposed  as  fully  to  the  public 
gaze  as  were  those  of  this  renowned  and  glorious,  but 
unhappy  queen. 

The    End. 


1    C       'h     ^^O'-vvy  i. :/-,, /O  V? 


Illllllillllllil 

AA    000  845  369    8 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  Saji  Diego 

DATE  DUE 


FEB  0  7  mn 


FEB  15  198n 


-m 


V  ft  5 1980 


05 


JAN  08  m\ 
DEC  Oii  1988 


CI  39 


VCSD  Libt. 


